Hustle and bustle ...

Hmmn, I'm thinking this blog makeover will take some getting used to.  The header seems enormous, but if I make it any smaller it doesn't centre properly ... I spent ages yesterday trying to resolve that particular conundrum, hunting for answers and cut 'n pasting CSS script into a Blogger thingummy over and over again, to no avail.  Sometimes computers are entirely frustrating, don't you think?!

Speaking of which, I probably spend way too many precious hours sat at my computer, but without them I swear I'd go stir crazy.  It's hard to remember how I ever coped without the World Wide Wide at my fingertips.  One thing's for sure, I spent far more time traipsing round shops back then, which meant fresh air, exercise, faces, hustle, bustle and so many more pairs of lovely shoes ...

High Street, Maidstone, on a very cold November afternoon

These days I do all I can to avoid said town; after all, in this age of internet shopping, who needs it?  But when I ponder beyond the end of my oh-so-convenient, time-saving keyboard, I reach the conclusion it's all a bit sad,  I mean, how many times do we wander dejectedly round our home town, only to complain about a rash of tatty fronted, budget shops dominating the High Street?  I for one, plead guilty to the crime of preferring to purchase online from my favourite websites ... yes, I am that lazy shopper responsible for the demise of the High Street. 

On the rare occasion I am forced to venture into town, I store up every concievable town-based task, to delay the prospect of having to return for as long as possible.  I hate queueing, grumpy shop assistants, loutish youths smokin' and cussin', chewing gum on pavements, having my ankles rammed by unwieldy pushchairs, fighting for parking spaces, tiny overheated changing rooms ... the town shopping experience is no joy for this 'Mrs Meldrew'.

But sometimes, despite everything, I miss it.  There's no rhyme or practical reason for this, I just occasionally crave a little hustle and bustle, the choking taste of diesel, the glitz and glitter window displays, that special smell of bookshops, the myriad of faces ...

So maybe today, I will resist the WWW's wonderful world of websites and take myself into town for the real interactive deal instead; after all, Christmas is a-coming and just this once the computer can't compete with a town dressed in tinsel!

Compatibility

'Simeon' 16"

What a testing week it has been! My old computer had been groaning every time I tried to do any work on it for quite some time and so I had to face facts, the poor old thing was past its sell by date. Naively, I decided to buy a new desktop pc. It arrived by courier and my son and I soon had the hardware set up, plugging all the right cables into all the right holes ... "job's a doddle," I recklessly thought. However, when I enthusiastically pressed the pretty blue button to fire it up, I wasn't at all prepared for the nasty non-compatible nightmare which greeted me.

I won't bore you with the details, but one awful migraine and two entirely frustrating days later, I finally managed to establish how to make the wretched, sneaky thing work. Oh and in case you are wondering, no I am not a complete computer dunderhead! I'm no whizz kid either, but I can usually get where I want to go without too much trouble. Anyway, to cut a long and painful story short, I ended up having to upgrade my modem, upgrade drivers for all my hardware, upgrade to AOL 9.0VR, work out how to migrate my website and accept the fact that my Microsoft Outlook files aren't ... yep, you guessed it, compatible! GRRRRRR!!!! One thing's for sure, by this point I wasn't feeling particularly compatible either!

'Simeon' 16"

I've spent today installing the new wireless modem, networking the family's pcs' and re-establishing contact with the outside world and at last we are up and running. There was a brief moment when I almost threw a blue fit because I thought my lovely Canon digicam wouldn't work with the new system, but in the nick of time I discovered that if I use the card reader, rather than the usb cable, it works perfectly. Phew ... (and breathe Paula!) In fact, now that I've just about finished fighting with my new 'Vista' system, I suppose I should be honest and tell you, we're actually bonding quite nicely. It's an absolute whizz at opening files, even my juicy photo graphics and it has the most enormous hard drive ... ah, surely you can't blame a girl for having her head so easily turned?!

Baby Erin's pink cardigan finished at last!

Enough of my trials and tribulations, at least I can report one or two things that actually went okay this week! I managed to finish the 16" bear 'Simeon' above, especially for my little knitted vest top and after an hour in the armchair clacking away, Erin Rose can at last wear her new pink cardigan ... no bumble bee buttons though, they didn't match perfectly enough, so I've settled for pretty pink flowers instead. Hopefully my sister will send me a pic of Erin wearing her new cardi soon! Laura, are you out there in the ether listening? Fingers crossed Erin hasn't grown too quickly and this cardi still fits her! ;o)

Oh before I go, I should mention the mohair! Simeon bear is made from some fabric I last used quite a few years ago. I remember making a Christmas bear called 'Yule' from this fabric ... hmmn, I wonder where he is now? (Hunts determinedly through files and bingo! Finds a pic especially for you ...)

'Yule' 20" 1999/2000 ish

Anyway, as I was saying, I haven't seen this particular fabric on sale for a very long time. I do know it was used by Steiff and used to be available in black, white, gold and chocolate. I had this piece of chocolate left over and have kept it ever since, ready to use again when I had an ideally sized pattern designed for it. Well, after all this time, the day finally came!

By the way, the name 'Simeon' flowed as follows ... Easter, hot cross buns, chocolate eggs, Simnel cake .... Simeon! And that dear pop pickers, is how my head works. Worrying eh?!

Noel, Noel!

My goodness, no sooner did I pop 'Noel' in Santa's Sack, than he found his special someone and announced he was moving to France. Oooh la la, this must rate as the fastest ALL BEAR adoption yet!

Still, I did promise to share the outcome of that fabulous piece of Schulte mohair with you as soon as I had finished working on it and a promise is a promise, so here it is, in all its glory. I hope you like it! I used the green twinkly eyes too ... they suit him well, don't you think? By the way, that super velvet bow tie is a genuine vintage find from the 1970's ... very Starksy and Hutch! Suave, sophisticated, it is the perfect dressing for Noel!

Changing the subject somewhat, I must ask, do you ever get frustrated with your computer? I certainly did today! I couldn't for the life of me work out why the text on my screen had shrunk to such a miniscule size, my poor ol' lady eyes could no longer read it. I fiddled with this setting and that and eventually had to shamefacedly ask for help. Luckily for me, several helpful folk soon rushed to my aid and helped me reinstate my text size.

And the moral of the story is? Well, the moral of this story is: 'don't let your kitten press buttons on the keyboard while you are trying to work'! Puddle is such a helpful soul and by lazily reaching out a black furry paw to press the 'control' button while I was trying to scroll, she successfully reduced my text sizing to almost invisible! Kitties eh?!