Day 8 - Home Sweet Home

It's lovely to be back at home although it's so bare as the Christmas decorations have been taken down. This is the second year in a row where I have been in hospital on 12th night.

Some people will do anything to get out if taking the tree down.

Can't wait to put them up again next year!

Christmas and New Year

My friend Seona with our tree.

Christmas and new years was so much fun.  Just what I needed to get me set up for what I know will be a difficult start to 2012.

Christmas started early for Arthritis Care as we were asked of we would like to be part of the Christmas tree festival at St. Luke's Church in Cannock.  One of the menbers paid for a tree and we set about decorating it in pink, our arthritis care colours.  We featured in the local newspaper and raised a lot of awareness.

Snow in Sawbridgeworth.

On the weekend before Christmas, I made my way to see my friend Kim.  She had lots of Christmassy things for us to do including a Christmas quiz at a local working mens/phoenix club and it was really lovely.  There were people dressed up in all sorts of fancy outfits including turkey hats, Christmas ties etc, and I, of course wore my beautiful bauble earrings!  On the Sunday morning I noticed some rather large white flakes floating past the window and, of course, it was snow.  It didn't stay long but I did manage to get a photo before it melted.

I really enjoyed driving my new car to Kim's.  I normally would have struggled but I think the new car mixed in with several stops made the journey a whole lot better.  I stop for around an hour every hour.  I know this is a lot but I feel so rubbish if I don't and I want to enjoy myself while I'm there.

On the 23rd I went to Chasewater to see Santa.  I went with my arthritis friends who leads a Brownie pack.  We went on the steam train and I got the Brownies singing all the way.  After the train ride the Brownies went to see Santa while I sat and drank tea, I also ate 2 mince pies which did nothing for my diet.

On Christmas Eve I went to sing in Stafford to raise money for Katherine House.  I do it every year and we usually get a really good reception.  Later I went to meet my friends and was shocked to see my old school friend Gemma who lives in New York.  She will be getting married this year to a guy from the Dominican Republic, he is very much what I expect a New Yorker to be.  He's a lovely bloke who tipped a barman £2 after buying a whisky the last time he was here and couldn't understand why we told him not to.  I'm so excited about her wedding and I'm so happy for them both.

New Years Eve was wonderful.  I went back to my friend Kim's for an 80's party.  I spent a few weeks getting my outfit together and ended up with Madonna.  I had my hair done in Stafford before I left home and went on my way with as much coffee and salad as I could manage and plenty of stops along the way.

The party was at Kim's mum and dads house. Here are the characters we had at the party;

                                        
Adam Ant
Wonder Woman
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle's (all 4 of them!)
Superman/Supergirl
Bananaman
A coal miner on strike
A space hopper
Boy George
Alice Cooper
Slash


We had a brilliant brilliant time.  It had been a year since myself, Kim and Amy had been all together and it was lovely.  We spent the next couple of days together before I had come home and get ready for the first hurdle of the new year, my operation.

Panto Day!

Today I went to see my wonderful friend Nick in a pantomime in Hertford.  He's playing Widow Twanky in Aladdin at the Hertford Theatre.

There was 9 of us all together, Helene, her son David, her Mum and Dad, My friend Katherine, her husband Simon, their kids Oscar and Tilly, and then just me.  My friend Helene hired a mini bus for all of us so we had a proper road trip.

Nick was just wonderful and so very funny.  All the kids loved him and he stole the show, although I don't think the kids realised that it was Nick!  I'm not just saying that because he's my mate, but he is good.  I can see him on children's tv because kids really love him and he does make them laugh a lot.  I don't know who had more fun, us or the kids.

Well done Nick and the rest of the cast for such a lovely day.

Christmas Singing

I realised I have never done a post on my singing and how much I do this time of year.

As some of you will know I have sang in choirs since I was about seven years old so singing at Christmas has always been a part of my life.

My Christmas schedule is getting quieter as each year rolls round.  When I was at university it was crazy this time of year.  One year I did fourteen concerts and gigs in fourteen days, I had two and even three gigs on one day.  It was all good fun but as my health was deteriorating I knew I couldn't continue doing that many gigs for much longer.

Now I sing with a local choir called Cantemus and have done for around ten years.  I am one of the youngest members and very much enjoy my time with them.  The whole choir have welcomed me and have been very understanding about my needs.  I usually sit at rehearsals and in concerts and I also use music stand when performing due to the heavy books.  Since I started using a music stand I have enjoyed singing far more than ever before as the pressure has been taken off me.

This years Christmas calendar started with a weekend of singing.  We had our Christmas concert at Trinity Church in Stafford.  I had a small solo which was lovely as I haven't done one for a while.  The concert went well and the church was quite full so we were very pleased.

The next day we sang at the Light up a Life service at Katherine House Hospice in Stafford.  Every year lights are illuminated to remember family and friends who have been looked after in the hospice.  It's a beautiful service but it's always cold as it is held outside on the car park.  There were well over a thousand lights on the tree this year and thousands of pounds were raised for the hospice.

The choir also sang at Foxwalls Care Home in Stafford.  We sang for half an hour and the people who live there seem to really enjoy it as they joined in with us.

On Christmas Eve we sing in Stafford for an hour and raise money for Katherine House.  I've been doing this for about ten years and we always get a good response for the public.  By the time we finished singing at midday on Christmas Eve, my carol book is, once again, closed until the next year.

Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas 2012?

I've been thinking (as probably all knitters do) of all the Christmas presents I would have liked to have knitted for everyone.  So, I know it's early but I'm already planning!

As I live with my Mum and Dad I can't knit presents at home so I thought if I spent all my knitting days out doing presents then I might have done what I wanted to do for Christmas.  I thought I might do them a pair of socks each.  I also have my Mum's Noro scarf to finish so I could give that for her birthday or save it for next Christmas.

I'd like to do a pattern that was in Simply Knitting back in November.  It's for knitted advent lights that comes complete with a knitted plug!  As I won't be using it as an advent calender I could do a shorter version and stuff the lights.  I also have a Christmas Card pattern from Simply Knitting which would also be good for next year.  I might do about 4 cards.  These are made out of left over DK so they will be a cheap option.

I would also like to knit my Niece something, weather that will be a hat or a toy or something I'm not too sure.

So here is my list for Christmas 2012.  I've got 370 days to knit.  Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted!

Working hard for Christmas

Just thought I'd update on my progress with the Christmas present I'm making for my Mum.

I'm doing a crochet granny square scarf.  The pattern was in a magazine a few months ago and I like it so much, that I might do one for myself.

It doesn't say how many squares you need to make the scarf but I'm thinking I'll probably do about 18.  I think I've got about 15 already.

I'm crocheting the squares together with black yarn to make the scarf.