Penguin Awareness Day And A Wolf

After my last post about our local black ice , some of you kindly gave me a link to the 'walk like a penguin' site . Whereupon the ice promptly thawed and we were all free to skip about any old way we liked again ... until yesterday .
Leaving the flat early , I hadn't yet set foot on the pavement when a workman further up yelled , "It's icy , again ! " . So I obediently penguin-shuffled about all day , feeling like a fool but staying upright . And yes coincidentally , yesterday January 20th , was apparently Penguin Awareness Day ..... 
But now , I'm not just aware of them ,  I'm in awe ! I can't understand why they don't all pack their bags and move to Rio ...

Luckily the weather hasn't been people-unfriendly all the time . I was able to get to the knitting exhibition on a quiet afternoon to wander around among the birds in babies bonnets,  rabbits in socks , and a unicorn in a frock

There were geese in Frisian lace caps and a deer in a trendy jumper .

And colour everywhere....

A C16th chainmail glove and a knitted castle  to match . A C17th sock ... well-mended ... and tiny modern replicas , all knitted from the toe up as was the custom , apparently .

And Red Riding Hood's wolf , knitted by Chrystl Rijkboer from human hair . ( Don't all rush to your local hairdresser's . Hair spins up into very harsh yarn . Ideal for wolves , less comfy for people .

 It was all very colourful and cosy and I'll be back ....

Snow White , Code Red

Can sometimes result in black ice ...

On Monday evening there was a last chance to see  'Amy' in the Film House  . I took the bus because of the raw wind and sleet . Friend , being a heartier soul , appeared on her bike . After the film ( excellent but rather painful to watch at times ) , we felt we needed a glass of wine to recover and got so comfortable that we ignored the increasing numbers  of  little yellow salt-sprayer vans  ,  circling the town centre like wasps .

In fact , I got so comfortable that I missed the last bus . I ended up walking carefully home down the middle of deserted streets , only occasionally windmilling round unsprayed corners with a muted "Eeek ! " . It took nearly an hour and by the time I got back my parka had a top layer of ice that crackled like the burnt sugar  on a successful creme brulee . Friend reported next day that she and bike had slithered and skidded all over the place , till she gave up and just pushed the damn thing the rest of the way . It's due to clear up tomorrow , Thursday ... maybe .

If not I might even fish out my skates .

In Case You've Forgotten What It Looks Like ...

It snowed here , last night !

 

 

Not very much , it's true , but I thought you'd like a reminder of what winter can  look like .

Skeins of geese are busy re-locating , flying overhead honking their disapproval over the change in temperature as they head a little further south . Smaller birds are all looking slightly startled  . One fat , slightly desperate  blackbird was trying to get at some berries on a rather spindly bush  ... he obviously felt like someone trying to pick apples with the help of a trampoline .

P.S. No animals were frozen in the making of this photo ... It's a neighbour's plastic garden ornament .

The Only Resolution To Make This Year

It's early evening here . Everyone's busy putting the finishing touches to tonight's party celebrations ... Nibbles cover every available surface ... Champagne's on ice ... The fireworks are ready . And the die-hards have already made their New Year's resolutions . But this year there's really only one possible resolution to make :

                         To make sure that everyone has shelter and a welcome in 2016

 

May we all have a lovely evening and the coming year is full of just the right adventures .

Another Christmas List

It's all under control ... there's enough food to feed twenty in the 'fridge  ( none of it knitted ) , parcels have been sent and received , a  Christmas tree  and Poinsetia have been installed ( the tree is actually smaller than the Poinsetia but some tinsel and little silver bells have revived its spirits ) , I decided against making the recipe for chocolate bars in the health shop brochure ... who needs chia seeds at Christmas ? , YD is bringing up mini Christmas puddings tomorrow and lots of proper chocolate for her father , the Polish Christmas carols CD has been found and sounds as lovely as always , and we have Spain's entire olive production for the last three years in our possession .

I hope that MD will still be talking to me after Elder Grandson opens one of his presents and he's busy making brightly coloured slime out of it . I hope that Julie Andrews isn't appearing on television in any shape or form over the holidays .  I hope that the whistling neighbour has been invited somewhere nice for the holiday .

And Smitonius and I hope that you all have a perfectly splendid Christmas !!

Altogether Now ... I Want To Ride My Bicycle

My annual eye checkup , each December , involves powerful eyedrops that make daylight painfully bright for a few hours till they wear off . I always have to get there by bus since , even wearing dark glasses , I can't open my eyes without being dazzled  .

So this morning , I jump on the 32 for the hospital ,  congratulating myself on being in plenty of time . Bus driver greets us all with a cheery smile , waits for a puffing latecomer and closes the doors . One door stays open . She opens the doors again . Tries closing them again ... and again . Presses a nice silver button . Nothing . Presses all the buttons at once ... whereupon , logically , nothing happens at all   . Presses red button... engine burps .

Lady nearby ( sorry , but she is definitely a lady ... she has a lace-edged hanky , stockings and a tweed suit .  Facinating . ) clears her throat nervously and looks at her watch . I wave goodbye to grabbing  a coffee before my appointment and we all start peering out at the other buses dotted round , trying to work out which one could be diverted via the hospital without the whole system collapsing .
.
Driver manages to close the doors . Now have visions of being trapped in stationary bus .

Inspector wanders up . Points to his watch . Driver shrugs and presses buttons again .

Everything happens at once ... indicators all flash , water squirts up over the windscreen and wipers swish , radio goes on  , engine vrooms and we ride off to the sound of Queen and Freddie Mercury ...

Breezing Along

As well as hailstorms  ( lovely photo in the local paper of hockey match brought to a standstill last weekend  ) , there's been a decidely BRISK wind all week ... at one point today , the easterly wind was blowing so hard along the canal bank I had my bike brakes on in panic . It didn't make any difference ... I was jet-propelled . Had it not been for the supermarket entrance , I'd be crossing the German border about now !

 Apart from occasionally breaking the sound barrier , I've been methodically buying presents .
Boxes of sweets and bathproducts ... or , as they're referred to in December , confectionery and toiletries . Stray bits of Lego . Pretty books  and tins of tea . Treats . Basically the things that the people you're giving them to will be buying for you . Even encountered a friend on the hunt for a milk-chocolate iPhone ....

In amongst all this though , I did find the time , at last , to go to the Princessehof and admire the C20th ceramics exhibition . Nothing terribly exciting but if anyone wants to give me this 

 

or this

 

or this child's teaset

 

or these

for Christmas , I'd accept graciously . As always , the 20's and 30's stuff is much more striking than modern china .

But the most cheering part of the week had nothing to do with treats or trips ... it was a ten minute bus ride that ended up taking twenty five . The bus had just pulled away from the stop outside the theater when there was an unholy howl from the back and everyone started shouting . Someone seemed to be having an epileptic attack . The driver stopped and ran back to check ... and one of a noisy , skirmishing group of young lads in hoodies and gravity defying jeans stopped horsing about , calmly pulled out his 'phone , called for an ambulance , gave concise directions and a coherent description of the symptoms and put his 'phone back in his pocket . Even his mates looked impressed . I'd like to see him in ten years time . Once the ambulance had come the patient had recovered , so the crew , finding out that she lived alone , took her back to her flat to make her a cup of tea and settle her in  .