New Year, new me

 Hello. I'm back. I like blogging, it feels completely obsolete and obscure now.

 For whatever reason, Christmas, winter, not much to say, I've had another of my breaks. And it's hard to say exactly what is new with us, not a lot I imagine. 

We are at the end of February now and finally starting to get our momentum up again now that there is the promise of better weather (though the reality is probably a few months off)

I can't sum up everything we've been up to the past few months of course, it would be sill try, and honestly it's probably just more of the same. I've been through my camera though, which admittedly I rarely use, and have picked out a few photos: 

At the beginning of January I started on a regime called the Human Being Diet, which is by a nutritionist called Petronella Ravenshear. I was recommended it by a friend who also has chronic pain as it is supposed to be very good for inflammation. I did follow this diet to the letter for just over 5 weeks, and I lost 20lbs, however while I expected a (promised) spike of energy after the first couple of weeks, I never experienced this, and instead began to feel like a slow and drifty jellyfish. This last week I have re-introduced carbohydrates into my diet (a bit too much probably) and am feeling much more myself, as well as more able to join in family activities of cooking and eating, which are really important to us. 

Here I am eating a plate of salad and prawns, which I really don't enjoy.

I have been making truffles. This was really the thin end of the wedge. Before I broke my diet I started making my (allowed) two squares a day of 85% chocolate into truffles. Well, one thing leads to another and rules began to be broken. I mainly include as cooking from scratch is a great pleasure for me and a value I'm keen to raise the girls with, and something we are better and better at, although it has always been a priority. 

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I signed up for a drawing course last year, but as it was booked up for the first term couldn't begin until January, by which point I had completely lost the bee in my bonnet which has prompted me to enroll in the first place and couldn't really remember why I was there. I had already resolved to stop going after a few weeks when the arthritis in my hands flared up and gave me the excuse I needed to stop. What I do want to do is spend more of my own time practicing drawing and being creative - which I supposed was probably my interested in the course - but that's yet to really happen. 

I haven't been drawing, but I have been knitting - actually that won't be helping my hands - and have made some lovely garments that I'll get a lot of wear out of. 

I had a sweater vest (crocheted) that I made a couple of years ago, but which was really too long to wear with dresses, and finally took the plunge and chopped off the bottom and stay stitched the bottom. 

I love a sweat vest, and that inspired me to knit another (pale lilac, plain knitting, I don't have a photo), and Will also knitted me a beautiful blue sweater vest so I'm now complete. 

I also knitted myself a vest/waistcoat to wear at the allotment (more on that another day). This was a pig to knit, with several hundred stiches to pick up around the outside edge. 

And two lace cardigans. The purple one was intended to be my first every cable project, but after frogging back the same 5 rows three times I threw the towel in and found a lace pattern instead. I'll look for a cardigan pattern with a simpler, not all over, cable as my beginner project I think. 

I have been for quite a lot of winter swims, at least once a week, although probably less than in previous years. I put this down to my general sleepiness/antisocial-ness at the moment. 

I hope that the next few weeks will see my energy and enthusiasm picking up, and that I should have a little more than knitting to update with. 

We are getting rid of the internet in the house and changing to just a pay as you go mobile data dongle, so internet use will be extremely limited after that. Perhaps I will need to explore using the library computers. 

Until next time.