The friendship bag went astray, or was somehow appropriated by the post office. It certainly never reached its recipient. What with sewing mojo already being at the low ebb, this didn’t help. Still, there is simply no excuse for the tardiness of my package in the stitcher’s angels swap, but more of that by the by.
Once I got myself by the scruff of the neck back to the sewing machine I made a replacement bag for Renata of Zigzago:
This one made it to Italy, I’m glad to say.
I received my package in the stitcher’s angels swap at around the time one would expect if the sender stuck to the deadline, that is, in November. I loved the package, but didn’t have the heart to blog about it until I’d sent my own, and the longer it took the harder it was. Anyway, my package was put together by Lene of Denmark, and just look at this overabundance of loveliness:
And I finally got my own package in the post, then waited with bated breath until Joy could report its safe arrival. Wouldn’t it just have been sod’s law if it got lost after all that? But they did arrive, and I could breathe again.
This time round we’re actually organising a trip for some of the members of NMWL Trondheim, so we’ll be a group of about ten people for the first week. Then a few of us, not including the husband and the lass, are going via Campbelltown and Arran before hitting the mainland. After that, well, our little family still has about two weeks to fill, how much whisky is involved will depend on whether we have a tail of NMWL-members or not. Odds as it looks right now is not.
Anyway, plans for the week on Islay include vip-tours where possible and in any case a visit to every distillery. Personally I’m most looking forward to Ardbeg, since the day we were supposed to take a tour of Ardbeg in 2006 was the day I spent in hospital trying not to bleed. We will stop to see the Kildalton Cross, again, of course, and we’ll be sure to have lunch in the Old Kiln Cafe.
Kildalton cross
We’re also hoping for a proper tour of Kilchoman, last time they didn’t even have real whisky yet, and we only had time to see the shop. We’re also trying to wrangle some extra special tours or tastings out of some of our contacts, but I’m not going to reveal just what…
In 2006 our best tours were at Bowmore and at Caol Ila. At Bowmore we’d booked a VIP tour and when we arrived were told the destillery manager was regrettably not there, but the head brewer would show us round instead, and did we mind much? Did we mind? You’re kidding, right? Someone who’s most likely worked there for years and who is directly involved in production? Yeah, we’ll take it. It’s the most thorough tour I’ve ever had – we spent more time in the maltings and kiln than the Japanese bussload who arrived at the same time as us spent on their whole tour and tasting. It was also the tour where I regretted not being able to drink the most, as there were a fair few cask samples pulled in the warehouse, all of them quite stunning. Ah, well.
Bowmore, seen from the pier
At Caol Ila we actually did the standard tour, but our guide was one of the men who’d been involved in rebuilding the distillery in 1973/4. He knew the place like the back of his hand and gave a marvelously engaged tour.
Caol Ila
No doubt we’re in for some grand tours this summer, too. I’m salivating at the thought, and my notebook’s at the ready. The husband and I will have to take turns sitting the tours out, though, as the lass is coming along. Luckily throwing stones off a pier is one of her favourite activities (as it seems to be for most kids), so she’s unlikely to be bored. We may have to sneak in some nature spotting as well. On the 2006 trip I found the most impressive beetles in London, but Scotland has plenty of creepy-crawlies of its own, and a fair few bigger animals, too. Like sheep. When you’re three, sheep are exiting enough.
Big beetle, somewhere in London
Once we’re back on the mainland, as mentioned, it’ll probably turn into more of a family vacation than a peat-freak’s dream. We’re planning on visiting Bladnoch, but also to spend some time in Wigtown‘s bookshops (yeah, I know. Me? Bookshops? You’re shocked, right?), which the lass should enjoy (her mother seems to have a fairly limitless budget when it comes to children’s books. Can’t imagine why. We’re then heading north towards Talisker, Skye and Balmacara, where we have friends we’re hoping to spend a few days with and then on to Aberdeen, lovely Aberdeen, for possibly a day or two of shopping before flying home.
Along the way we’re looking for interesting activities that all three of us might enjoy. Any tips would be welcome. So far we’re considering the Jacobite railway (the lass and me, the husband to drive the hire car the same stretch), seal tours in Oban or from Skye and the Satrosphere Science Centre in Aberdeen, where I was once supposed to go with L, but our plans were sabotaged by a terrific lunch with a few pints of cider at The Tilted Wig and never made it in time. Ahem.
Well, back to the planned trip: I can hardly wait.
More pictures from the 2006 trip can be found on Flickr.
I was a bit optimistic earlier this autumn and signed up for a couple of swaps. Well, let’s say I haven’t been able to stick to the deadlines completely. I am contrite, and consistently a couple of days late. I must resist the temptation to sign up for more swaps in the near future. Anyway, one of the swaps was the Friendship Bag Swap hosted by the Quilting Gallery.
Here is the one I made:
I used the pattern provided by Rachel Griffith, because I’m lazy and because it really is quite a nice pattern, and I was rather pleased with the result. The bag is wee, cute as hell. I think I’ll have to make another one to keep.
Here’s a detail:
And here it is all wrapped and ready to go :)
A few days after I sent mine off, I received this little gem in the post:
2009 has been pretty good. The shrub is no longer the leader of the (western?) world and I’m pretty happy with the way the elections turned out over here as well. Still, we’re hardly living in an ideal world yet, so there are a few things you may consider putting some effort into in the run-up to Christmas (and if you have to make it next Christmas, don’t worry, I realise there aren’t that many shopping days left before this one). As for me, well, I think I’ve been pretty good. But I’ll work on doing better, too, don’t worry. Anyway, here are a few things that would make my eyes sparkle (and who doesn’t like sparkly eyes?) this Christmas:
1. Peace on earth.
2. Any or all of the gadgets I’m drooling over at the moment: A new laptop, a mini laptop (Eee or similar), a Kindle.
3. An Overlock. Like this one. Or one of the Husqvarna Huskylocks they have here.
4. Health and longevity for my nearest and dearest and for the following authors/artists (and any others I may have forgotten): Robin Hobb, J.K. Rowling, Stephen Fry, Jo Nesbø, Ole Paus, Bjørn Eidsvåg, Alanis Morisette, Michael Wiehe, Michael Parkinson, Håkon Gullvåg, Lillebjørn Nilsen, Neil Gaiman, Bill Bryson, India Knight, Kate Atkinson, Bob Dylan, Jasper Fforde and the Top Gear guys.
7. Non-stop (though perhaps not quite as many as last year…).
8. Some energy and wherewithall to start the house-selling-buying-moving process.
9. The Sandman books
And for the lass, who really has been good, not just pretty:
1. Jigsaw puzzles of 8 pieces and upwards (the sky’s the limit, she’ll grow into them eventually).
2. Good books (but check with us first, we have quite a few – understatement of the year).
3. DVDs: Disney, old children’s tv shows and newer ones like Tony Ross’ Little Princess, Postman Pat, Thomas the Tank Engine, Kipper and others of the same ilk (check what we already have).
4. Listen and read combination things – those books with the story on CD – if they still exist?
5. Doll’s clothes (pretty much any size doll) – hand made if you do that sort of thing.
…is officially here. This morning I had to get the lass out of bed a just a tad earlier than usual and when we went to the bathroom to change she pointed at the window:
I’ve heard about the sort of research on incentives that he quotes before, and so wasn’t surprised as such, but he has a greater level of detail on which scenarios play out which way which was new to me.
I’ve “always” known that financial motivators don’t work for me, but I kind of thought it was “just me”, or at least “it works for some people”. This research should be slapped (yes, literally if you like) in the face of every CEO who justifies the ridiculous salaries and bonuses, especially in financial corporations, with “it motivates people to do a good job”.
Uh uh. It doesn’t.
A note – spoilerish, so watch the video first: The candle problem… When he’d shown the first picture and started talking about the task I honestly thought “well, what’s so difficult about it? Just use the bl***y box.” Smugness ensues.
Egentlig vil jeg bare ha en forklaring på elefantene, men siden jeg først gikk til bryet med å ta bilde av plakaten kan jeg jo like gjerne plukke fra hverandre resten også…
For det første kan man vel gå ut fra at Ola Borten Moe (heretter OBM) ikke bidrar med nevneverdige arbeidsplasser for grafiske designere eller profesjonelle reklamefolk. Eventuellt driver han veldedighet og hyrer in sådanne som ikke får jobb noe annet sted. Men det er nå en sak. OBM er ikke alene om å tro at bare fordi dagens datateknikk har gjort at man KAN lage sine egne plakater så BØR man gjøre det.
La oss snakke litt om billedvalget, sånn utenom elefantene, selvsagt. Jeg skulle gjerne visst hvorfor det ene er i svart/hvitt, men slår meg til ro med at designeren (jeg bruker ordet i dets løseste betydning) synes det så kult ut. Ellers er det vel normal Senterparti-nasjonalromatikk vi snakker om. Ikke ett av bildene hadde skiftet “stemning” nevneverdig om de avbildede menneskene hadde vært ikledd bunad. Legg også merke til den totale mangelen på mennesker med noe annet enn griserosa hud. Nå kan man jo forstå at “bondepartiet” liker griser, men jeg har da sett mange flotte griser med andre hudfarger også, og da snakker jeg altså om griser – sånne som sier nøff, nøff. Nordmenn finnes også med mange flotte hudfarger, men det passer kanskje ikke like bra inn i Tidemand og Gude?
Og så var det mottoet, da. “Gode liv – der du bor”. Sikkert godt ment, for all del, men burde det ikke være enten “Godt liv der du bor” (personlig) eller “Gode liv der dere (evt. folk) bor” (generelt velvillig)? “Gode liv – der du bor” gir meg inntrykket av at OBM vil at jeg og naboene mine skal ha det bra, noe som forsåvidt er hyggelig, men at det ikke er så nøye med resten av verden. Det er upraktisk på flere måter, blandt annet ser jeg for meg at det kan bli folksomt i nabolaget mitt dersom det bare er her man kan få seg ett godt liv.
En annen ting er at i følge bildene bor jeg visst i en eller annen blomstereng et sted, det er forsvinnende lite asfalt i OBMs verden. Ikke at jeg er så fryktelig fan av asfalt, men jeg bor nå engang i byen og selv om jeg av og til får lyst på “katt og kaniner og et småbruk på Høland” så går anfallet som regel over det øyeblikket jeg kommer på at vi er tom for skikkelig ost (nå kan man argumentere med at hvis jeg bodde på et småbruk så kunne jeg lage ost selv, men jeg er ikke så sikker). Er ikke dette feil bilder å reklamere med på bussene i Norges tredje største by?
Og hva er det egentlig med den nettadressen? Nudge.no? Hæ. Hvorfor? Nudge er, meg bekjent, ikek engang et norsk ord. Er det ikke norsk valgkamp?
Men egentlig var det altså disse elefantene. Hva? Eller som vår gode venn Bertie Wooster ville ha sagt: “What, what what, what, what?”
Er det et forsøk på å ta klimaendringene på alvor – snart får vi elefanter i Sør-Trøndelag? Synes OBM bare at elefanter er innmari ålreite dyr? Er det et nikk til the Republican Party (United States)? Er det en oppfordring til nytenking i landbruket: Hvis Senterpartiet får makten vil det bli store subsidier til elefantfarmer? Kan det overhodet finnes en logisk og gjennomtenkt forklaring?
Well, I have dug through my fabric stash and now I have this pile:
And all I have to do is locate some thread and trimmings and the scissors I picked up at IKEA the other day (scissors are useful when sewing, right?), and perhaps I have some yarn, too? Anyway, it is then getting wrapped up and sent off to the Netherlands where it will enter the mysterious thing that is APO and hopefully, at last, end up being put to good use by an Iraqi woman (or man?). Stashbusting AND do-gooding all at once, can it get better?
Hurry, you just have time to join me! Go to the IBOL-blog for more info and to sign up.
Edited to say:
In case you’re wondering why I’m doing this, I guess you could call it paying forward. And I just found this piece written by the woolywoman via the IBOL blog:
Well, I hope somewhere in Iraq, someday, a young man who is hearing that he needs to blow himself up because the Americans are evil pauses back to the day that the American soldiers gave his mom a bundle of sewing supplies, and how happy she was, and that the bundle was sent over by a regular American woman for his mom. Maybe she will be making her sons some nice little shirts for school out of that green fabric, and they will remember, and the world will change a little bit. I remain hopeful. My kids remain hopeful. I am so grateful to the US soldier who gave me the opportunity to reach out to a mother across the world.
So I’m not American, but in this case it really makes no difference. This war was started in my name too, whether I like it or not. So here’s my contribution to a common sense attempt at making life just a little bit better for just a few Iraqis.
