Friday 28 May 2021

No Time To Post! Angels, Cradles and back to Durham.

No Time To Post!

 Now that things are moving on a bit more as restrictions ease I'm finding it hard to fit everything in.  How did I manage it before? we have all got used to life in the slow lane and now as things open up we don't have the excuse of lockdown to fall back on for not getting things done.

I run the website for my local u3a and am also the Group Coordinator, over the past year and a half apart from a few zoom meetings and a weekly quiz on the website nothing much has been happening.  Now people are wanting the groups to start up again which has meant holding a zoom meeting with the group leaders and trying to find a way forward.  Lots of the venues we use for our meetings only allow a certain number of people inside and others haven't even opened up again namely our Town Hall which hosts seven of our groups, they don't plan to open until the end of June and only if it's safe to do so. 

I didn't even have time to post last week because another thing that was put on hold and has once again come to the fore is the need to assemble the knitting and crocheting display we had planned before Covid in order to decorate our Train Station. We were going to do this to celebrate u3a day which is on the 3rd of June but judging by the number of people who turned up to help last week that's not going to happen.

I invited about six ladies to my garden in order to get the process started and there was only myself and Pamela the lady who runs the knitting group there to try and make some sort of start.


Pamela brought a huge fishing net, the plan is to assemble all the work onto the net and then hang it onto the fence at the station. We worked hard for 3 hours and then I called a halt, we were shattered! I have taken a portion of the net to work on and Pamela has taken the rest, I have no idea when we will get it completed because trying to find a day when people are free to help and one that is warm and dry is a challenge in itself. 

If you remember we decorated the Marina back here and it was such a hit we were approached by the person who looks after the station shortly afterwards to ask us if we would decorate the station. Hopefully once it's up it will bring some much needed cheer to the town.

Angels and Cradles

Along with the sewing of flowers onto nets, I have been continuing with the crochet angels and another part of the challenge for N.H.A.P. which is for for knitted cribs for angel babies. 






crib and blanket

When making them I realised that I have never used eyelet lace before so I learnt something new, it seems strange that in my 60 years of knitting this is the first time I have ever used it.

 I can't believe that I have been knitting for 60 years! and crocheting for 48 where have all the years gone, I wonder how many items I have made in all those years. How many years have you been knitting and or crocheting?

The making of angels will continue until the end of the month ...

my count so far is 23 the overall count is 2321 we are trying to reach 2500, I think that target will be reached and smashed by the end of the month.

Back to Durham

We promised ourselves a trip back to Durham once the lockdown eased, both to visit the Castle and to eat in a restaurant for the first time in months. 

The weather has been appalling throughout May but luckily the day we went it was dry and not too cold so another river walk was a must.  It was amazing to see how lush and green everything had become in just a few weeks.





We had our meal which was lovely, unfortunately the castle is still closed to visitors and you have to book in advance to visit the cathedral so that's a good excuse to go back again, not that I need an excuse Durham is a beautiful place to visit at any time.

It's bank holiday weekend here in the Uk and for once the weather promises to be warm so I have a long walk planned on Sunday to Hawthorne village remember the mud scenario back here, we have to go through the dene again to reach the village so wish us luck! it has been raining pretty hard here for last few weeks. If we manage to reach the village we going to have Sunday lunch in the pub there and then walk all the way back again, glutton for punishment springs to mind.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend whatever your plans are.



 

Click here to see the great parties I'll be linking to this week.

19 comments:

  1. It's great that you are busy with all of the projects and I love the cute angels you are crocheting. I hope you enjoy the weekend Linda.

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  2. It's nice that all the groups and activities that used to be a part of our everyday lives are opening back up again, though it's quite a shock to the system to be busy again. What a lovely idea to decorate the station, I hope you get some extra help in getting everything done in time. Enjoy the weekend, it sounds like you have some nice plans, fingers crossed that the weather holds out.

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  3. Wow.What a busy life.I think u3a’s here in Cheshire and North Wales are only planning on group meetings from September onwards but really good to put dates in the diary,at long last.
    P.S Can I have some of your energy please???!!!Barbaraxx

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  4. A busy bee making lovely little things !
    Have a shinny weekend !
    Anna

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  5. Hello Linda, how nice to see you back! I missed you last week :( I am looking forward to seeing pics of your decorated train station - I remember when you took us to see the yarn bombing at the marina and how it made us all smile. Enjoy your walk to Hawthorne - I hope you don't encounter any mud. BTW - I've been knitting for around 65 years!

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  6. Goodness me you do sound busy!
    I think it's a lovely idea to decorate the station and hopefully you will get some extra help in doing this.
    Wishing you a happy Bank Holiday weekend, the weather forecast sounds good.

    All the best Jan

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  7. I love the colorful pictures. Hope to see pictures of the yarn bombing once it's installed. I learned to crochet as a child, but didn't really do anything with it until about 12-15? years ago. I learned to knit in highschool Home Ec, but when I tried to pick it up again maybe 5-6 years ago, I was surprised at how unnatural it felt. I'm a simple knitter.

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  8. Decorating a whole train station seems like a lot of work for just two people! I'd give you a hand willingly if I was nearby! I shall certainly look forward to photos though of the station when its done :-) I am eagerly waiting for the social centre to open up again. I don't think they will announce the activities that will be available until September though. Do hope you don't have to wade through mud again when you go to Hawthorne. Lunch in the pub is a great idea! I have been crocheting since I was 10 that is 57 years ago,as of next week. Keep well Amanda x

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  9. The display is coming along nicely. I imagine it is a lot of hard work putting it all together, so I hope you can get some more people to help out.
    Durham looks lovely. X

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  10. The yarn bombing on the Marina looked amazing, I hope you will be able to get some helpers so that you can do the station. I noticed that our local town had a fair bit of yarn bombing when i went last week, no idea who has done it but it does look very cheerful. My life is much the same as it has been this last year, still not going out and about too much and as far as I know cross stitch group hasn't started back up, still not sure I would want to go and sit around that many people though at the moment.

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  11. I followed your link to the crochet/knitting display at the Marina, and I must say it looked fabulous. How disappointing that the display for the station hasn't more 'hands' to help. Though in saying this I am sure you and your 'little' band of crocheters/knitters will come up with something fabulous. What a cheery sight to see a lovely woolly display as one catches a train. Wow, you have finished a lot of little angels! Love all those pretty umbrellas way up in the air of that pretty street. How long have I been knitting?? I would say about 53 years. Wish I could crochet, though. =)

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  12. You have gone from meandering along at your own pace to doing, doing, doing, The fish net will be lovely when finished, hoping you can get some more people to help you. At least you got out to Durham for a lovely outing,

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  13. I hope you can start resuming some of your activitites soon. Good luck with the train station decorating. Your Durham trip looks beautiful.

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  14. You have been busy and the results are so lovely.

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  15. So many wonderful projects! I love the idea of brightening up the world with the lovely things we create! Those angels are so sweet!

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  16. Your certainly have a lot of great projects you are working on. Glad you got to visit Durham again! Hope you have a great week!

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  17. Oh my goodness you have been busy, very busy. Hope you get it all done and of course we want photos of the decorated train station when you are all finished. Stay safe.

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  18. You have been busy, Linda. Hope some people come as volunteers to help you.

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  19. Good luck with your yarn based train station decorating. It's hard to get people together these days isn't it, our habits have changed so much that getting "back to normal" is going to take a while.
    I've been knitting for about 40 years and crocheting for about 15ish, to this day I have no idea why I thought crochet was not for me for so long as once it 'clicked' it became my favourite thing!

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