It can't all be good...

Hello, 

'An enjoyable few hours spent in Sheffield on a beautifully sunny afternoon, 

all in the company of elder son.'

'A late afternoon, wintery walk up to The Outwoods - when we came out of the woods

 it looked like Christmas lights were on in the town spread before us.' 

As some of you may know, I reduced the number of days I work each week a few 

months ago. 

There have been some unforeseen benefits of this.

1. I drink fewer coffees. 

At work, a mid-morning trip to the coffee shop provided me with a bit of exercise and a bit of a treat too to keep me going through the rest of the day. Sadly, a bag of crisps often accompanied my coffee purchase - not a good thing for either my expanding waistline or rising blood cholesterol!

2. I've cut my wine intake

I have never drunk copious amounts of wine but I did find that a glass or two, several times 

a week was a particularly satisfying way to relax. I'm not proud of this; it is just the way it was. 

I think in celebration my liver is having a party, but obviously an alcohol-free one and 

most probably a slumber party!

 It's having a long-awaited and well-deserved rest from alcohol!! 

It is said that when you reduce your alcohol intake your skin improves, so in a couple 

of weeks time I'm hoping to look 20 years younger! ;-)

3. I've bought fewer magazines

As with the wine, I've never bought many magazines, but again a bit of a treat for me was

to browse the shelves of the newsagent, viewing all the craft and home magazines, 

dreaming of all the projects I would start (and finish!) when I had the time. 

And sometimes feeling that I could justify spending £5 for a magazine as 

"I'd worked hard this week"!

Magazines are pretty extortionate in price now aren't they? 

It's not uncommon for magazines to cost £8 - and I can't help thinking I can buy a 

book for £8!

4. So, as a result of 1, 2 and 3 above, I'M SAVING £££s

So all in all, this is looking very positive. 

But it can't all be good can it?

I am finding it hard to stick to my resolve to cut my spending on yarn. Again, I don't think I'm outrageously extravagant but I do have a few balls sitting in bags waiting to be knitted. 

And at the moment I'm so tempted by more sock yarn! 

And I can't help thinking that I can justify buying a couple of balls because of the 

amount of money I'm saving on coffees and wine! 

Oo, I can't decide between iceburg, frost or delphinium......

(this is 'iceburg' below)

Well, writing this post has distracted me from the wool website for a little while 

(thank you!), I'm now off to tidy the kitchen and then to bed, 

so delaying hitting that 'checkout' button for another day.

I hope you have been enjoying the wintery weather and the 

excuse it brings to snuggle up in front of a fire.

Best wishes

xXx

'A Man Called Ove' nearly over, and Osen continues...

Hello,

Once again, joining in with Ginny's yarnalong. 

• Book progress: 'A man called Ove' nearly finished. I have enjoyed this more than I anticipated and it hasn't at all matched my preconceptions of it. It has even brought me to the edge of tears in a couple of places, the moments when Sonja puts her finger in Ove's palm. Why do I get so upset about that??

• Osen Christmas stocking: this is progressing quite well, helped by a long drive south last Sunday for daughter's football match. The slowest part for me is now knitted - just rows of stocking stitch mainly to come, with a bit of interest to be found with the after-thought heel.

• and why the use of bullet points and subheadings in this week's yarnalong post? Because I feel this is one piece of advice that I give over and over again at work as part of my role. "It's helpful to use bullet points, subheadings and white spaces to make it easier for the reviewer to read your sections". Yep, I've got the white spaces too. Clearly bringing my work home with me. Mmmm, maybe I need to get out more!

How is your knitting progressing? Are you enjoying your current read?

Hope you have a good week - daughter and I are crossing our fingers for some snow, even a bit of sleet would be very exciting, but I think we may be looking to the skies in vain.

Best wishes

xXx