Tempus fugit

Tempus fugit is a Latin expression meaning Time flees and boy hasn't the last few months gone quick! I hadn't realised how long it has been since I wrote my last Blog entry. There has been some good times and some that have been tinged with sadness. I have been looking at the photos on my computer and trying to work out a time line to work from but that is proving a little elusive to my middle aged brain, so I am going to use the photos and tell you a little about them. I will try to start with the oldest and work forward but I am not promising to stick to it. Unfortunately the oldest I want to Blog about is also the hardest and takes us back a little further than I had first intended with this Blog. However it is now time to share what could not be shared when it was still fresh back in April to July of this year.

A Blanket for Jason

When I first started knitting just over a year ago I joined a group called Men who Knit and was amazed by the warm community of guys on the site who took the pleasure and time to share with others what they enjoyed most about knitting. This was a while before I found Ravelry. If you were looking for advice the guys would share their knowledge and point you in the right direction if you needed help. Well anyway I thought it was a wonderful place and just what I needed at the time when I was starting out.




One or two members of MHK stood out due to either their skills with the old sticks and string and others due to their kindness and generosity. One guy who stood out was Jason a young man who was very creative in many ways. Jason was musical and funny and made us all laugh. He would post things that made people smile and brought a shine to peoples days when they needed that ray of sunshine. I personally was just in awe of his knitting and the speed with which he could create a finished item. Often when finished, the item would wing it's way to a member of the group that Jason thought would appreciate it the most.

Imagine the groups horror when after a few week silence Jason posted to tell us that he had Testicular Cancer. Naturally our thoughts were with him and many members sent him their prayers and best hopes and wishes for a speedy recovery. A few members knitted him Chemo caps and asked that he keep us informed about his recovery.

What we as a group were not prepared for though was a new post a few months later to let us know that the cancer had now spread to the rest of his body and that at 30 his life was coming to a close. As a group it was as if we had been poleaxed. But in our frustration we knew we wanted to do something to show Jason our love in his short time left with us. One of the guys on MHK called Kyle put forward the suggestion that together we all knit Jason a comfort blanket.




Yarn of a suitable nature and colourway was chosen and we were asked to knit 72 squares to be posted to the USA for the blanket to be sewn together and sent to Jason in Holland as soon as possible. Each square was to be 8"x8" and made using the range of just four colours.

Squares were sent to America from all over the world and Kyle received over 200 squares in a matter of a three week period. Squares were chosen and each person who sent in squares was represented in the final blanket. I made four squares using techniques that I had never tried before. Jason's knitting had been inspirational to me in my early days of learning to knit and I wanted my contribution to be living up to that ethos and stretching me as a knitter too.

When I saw the blanket finished I was pleased to be able to spot two of my squares.
Kyle has blogged about the blanket and a little about Jason too. I am sure he would love you to read what he had to say.



RIP Jason, November 24th 1978 - July 4th 2009

Cardiff International Food & Drink Festival

Cardiff International Food & Drink Festival

Ben and I went to the International Food & Drink Festival on Friday 10th of July. My diet went out of the window as we worked our way round the stands buying scotch eggs, cakes and pots of jams and pickles.

The Handmade Scotch Egg Company sells not just any Scotch eggs, but meals in their own right. They aim to reinstate the humble Scotch egg as Britain's favorite snack food, producing quality food in an environmentally and socially responsible manner using only free range eggs and pork in their recipes.

We bought four eggs after first taking out a mortgage to buy them. At £10.50 for four they are not cheap.

Ceilidh
'Kay-lee' Based on a traditional Irish White Pudding recipe made with free-range Saddleback pork, bacon, barley, oatmeal, leeks and spices.

Old Stager
A traditional pickled egg, wrapped in free-range Saddleback pork and rolled in crumbled Tyrells sea salt and black pepper crisps.

Chieftain
Specially created with Burns night in mind,traditional Haggis with Saddleback pork.

Passion
Free-range pork combined with smoked bacon, fresh beetroot and tangy red onions.

Miranda’s Preserves was not a new stand to buy from, as we had bought from her at the Abergaveny Food festival last year. Now, that is a date to put in your diary for this year. The food festival takes place in September and is not to be missed.

This year we bought Lemon Curd and Apple & Mint Jelly from Miranda. She told us that she is only doing the Sunday at Abergaveny this year due to too many Jam sellers applying for stands. The organisers are not wanting to swamp the event with lots of Preserve sellers.

Another lady who we bought from was Emily of Emilys Jams & Pickles. From this stand we bought home made ground mustard with olives. Ben likes his mustards when it comes to pork pies and fresh ham off the bone.

My Biggest downfall was The Pudding Compartment Ltd, which was selling cheesecake. I don't normally enjoy cheesecake, but after a sample of the lemon one I had to go back on the Sunday to buy some.

I had been savouring the taste for two days and on my return could not buy any tubs to take home as they had truly been a fantastic seller. the owner was cutting up his display cheesecakes, so I bought a portion to eat at the market. Instead of sharing one with Ben to save on the rich pudding braking my diet, I bought two portions for us. I was only third of the way through my portion when truly knew this would have been better bought as a tub so I could have taken it home and savoured it for a couple of days, as it was so rich.

An actor providing entertainment by pushing his Babies round in a pram.

Banksy versus the Bristol Museum

Banksy versus the Bristol Museum

This is rather late, but it has to be written up as the Banksy versus Bristol Museum exhibition was fantastic. The exhibition of the elusive graffiti artist Banksy was suddenly unveiled last month (June 13th) with BBC newscasts coming live from the Bristol Museum the day before it opened.

Banksy who has been known to sneak a fake exhibit in to the Bristol Museum in past years has shaken up the dusty museum by putting more than 100 of his own artworks among it's real exhibits. http://www.banksy.co.uk/

Ben and I took our friend Lewis to see the exhibition in the first week it opened, and we were truly amazed at how inventive Banksy is. We had always known about his Graffiti but his sculpture and animatronics were some of the most thought provoking items in the show.

There is a main Room that houses a number of his most famous 2 dimensional art and it was well worth the one hour queue which most people face to get into the museum.

In another room, full of his animated sculptures, there's what looks like a living, breathing wild cat, I'm not sure if it is a cheetah or a leopard. A leopard may be mistaken for a cheetah or a Jaguar. When you see it from the back it is sat reclined in a tree. as you get nearer, and move round the cage you notice, with a chill, that it's been made into a fur coat.

The exhibition is open until Aug 31; admission free.