Happy Halloween!

It's here at last! I've had some full on weeks recently and I'm afraid I can't make time to squeeze in my themed food and pointy hat till probably next week.

There are a number of things that have managed to slip under the radar (out of sight, out of mind).
My mobile phone has been riding around in my handbag for at least a week and a half completly flat and needing to be charged. Finally remembered last night, got it out and put it on to charge.

Then preceded to forget to take it with me this morning, dropped a a full cup of water while out and had to locate someone so I could get it cleaned up. Spills can be a OHS hazard.

Then while recovering from this, I was looking at today's paper. New mayor, turned over a few pages. I had a sudden thought, flicked back to the front of the paper.
My minds eye instantly zooms to the "safe" place I put my ballot paper so I could sit down and read all the hype about everyone before voting.

Oh s***! Oh well I am a fan of the don't vote it only encourages the b*******! motto, but even still...maybe I should return the paper and the envelope anyway unfilled simply so somewhere somebody can account for me.

But upon returning home today, I had the pleasure of discovering I'm not the only absent minded person on the loose. While flicking through the phone checking missed calls and seeing what texts there were - hmmm, one of my knitting coven comtemporarys had texted me on Monday asking if there were costumes for our meeting on Tuesday since it was going to be Halloween.

Well. Since I wasn't there, I won't make any comment on what anyone actually turned up in.

But I hope you'll all remember to don your costumes for tonight boys and girls - or for some of us, just go out as normal!

One last question - Trick or Treat????

Through Hail, Sleet and Shine!

This afternoon, I am off to introduce myself to the regional manager of a local business chain, they will be in there central store some time this afternoon. That was as precise as the information got.

I figured I squeeze in lunch before going, because after all who knew how long I would be waiting? Which I'm glad I did, as it started to rain.
Having safely tucked away some of Nigella's Pea and Pesto Soup (absolutly divine!), we (Sandra D and I) are now awaiting Miss Stash to ring us and let us know what she's up to.
We debated about nipping into the store quickly and nipping back, but decided we would wait for Miss Stash's signal, thus making it only one trip out.

And now that it has started lashing down again, I'm wondering just what will I look like by the time I leave the safety of a car and before I reach the safety of the building? All this wind and rain, I like it. But not when I'm out trying to make an exemplery impression!

As for the soup mentiond earlier, I have just had a non-event recently for which I still got presents. One of which was a nice new blender. Very exciting prospect - and just in time for summer cocktails!
For which I might mention there are a number in the accompyning booklet. Along with soups, dips and thickshakes!

Nigella reccommends blending your soups as opposed to putting them through the processer as they come out smoother - and who am I to doubt her? So to road test this theroy I made her Pea and Pesto Soup and put it through the blender.
And it did come out smooth, but is this because it was blended or because apart from peas it's all mostly liquid???

To furthur study this I'm going to test run Nigella's Slime (Pea and Mozzerella) Soup and a really nice sounding Roast Pumpkin Soup from the booklet.

Do you know what I have to help me on with my cooking/knitting now???? Miss Stash gave me an iPod, yep the real deal. Not just any old MP3 player I'll have you know.
Now I'll have to knit a cosy for it!!!! Miss Stash said to me "Are you going to knit a naff cosy for it?"
Like she had to ask! Mine is going to have the naffest cosy out!

I'm already planning to knit a pair of iPod mittens for next winter and I must look out my Vogue Knit 1's as the first issue had a knitted armband thing for carrying it around in.

While I have a heap of cooking/wine/cocktail making podcasts to load on, I haven't got around to downloading any knitting ones yet because all the foodie ones took forever! I even have some Cook and The Chef - not whole episodes but little hints and tips bits. Like the Nigella Express ones were.

The Daft White Cat has very helpfully found a half finished sock he thinks it's about time I finished - Broadripple from Knitty. It's about half done and a very easy pattern to do. Maybe I should take the hint, lest he thinks it's been purposly abandoned as a play toy for him.

Something I must confess I have been lax in doing is checking the new knit mags online, which is probably why I am so late in seeing the new MagKnits - has anyone else had a look yet????

Bah!

We have not Adopted a Pirate! At times I'm not surprised the mainlanders think were all a bit backwards down here.
I'm begining to think it too.

I am very excited because it is October and months has become weeks, which will soon be days and then Halloween will be here! At last!
I am slightly envious for the Northern part of the world as it does exactly fall in the right place for a harvest festival, closing of the year, days getting shorter, boogelly things running loose!

Oh all right so boogelly things run loose here as well, but it's not quite got the same appeal to it.

Which is why I was excited and sad at the new Knitty pattern Jackyll and Hide. While I do agree it would be nifty for Halloween, it could be a tad warm here for it.

I hate daylight saving, so far it has done nothing for me except disrupt my sleeping habits. I go to bed, and the next morning not am I only still awake I am incredibly irritable! Curse who thought of daylight saving!

However I suspect these things can be smoothed over with a large Lemon, Lime and Bitters and some Nigella...Blood and Guts Potatoes anyone???

Avast ye land lubbers!

I've unearthed some buried treasure for your gain!

Paul McDermott doing a cover of Britney's Oops I Did It Again!

Something!

How exciting is this? My home town is contemplating adopting a pirate!

Yes splashed across the Saturday paper was the headline Adopt-a-Pirate! Of course I was excited, I thought I could actually adopt a pirate.

But no, we are considering becoming a friendship city to the Sea Shepherd Convservation group and their soon to be painted boat, which will set sail as the Jolly Roger!
It is the Sea Shepherds anti-whaling boat which they sail around in wreaking havoc on whaling ships in.

As you can surmise, I don't approve of whaling. If someone is taking a pro-active stance on it, other than saying how strongly they disapprove of it, then I for one am going to look on them more favourably.

Something that amuses me, Poland have an excess of blubber in storage, great warehouses full of frozen blubber, which they were hoping to onsell to the Japanese. The Japanese are no longer looking to buy blubber in, as they can meet their own demands now.
Seemingly for one reason or another blubber is not the delicacy it once was, and is something only the older generations of Japanese now enjoy eating.
Now what do we make of that boys and girls?

After my political activist rant is over we'll pass on the far more pleasent topic of knitting! I have picked a few choice things I want to make myself from the current Knitty.
Such as the very cool Entwined and Cherie Amour. And on my wish list, one day I will be able to lock myself away from a cat and all distractions and make, Muir.
And just because there cute and kind of kooky as well as spooky - Woodins!

Speaking of Kooky and Spooky and all together Ooky! It is after all October, Halloween will soon be here. And soon the 3rd season of the Addams Family will be out on dvd, I'm still waiting for the second season to come down in price. I do enjoy them, even after all this time.
As for The Munsters, well I didn't like them as much. It was funny, but they wern't the Addams.

I was watching Nigella making Blood and Guts Potatoes and Slime Soup and thinking how much I'd always liked the sound of them in her book, to actually see them has made them all the more tantalising.
Poor Miss Stash, "She's obsessed with peas!" she cries as we watch Nigella making yet something else that uses peas. I like to torment her and tell she's imagined all these dishes with peas. Miss Stash does not like peas.

As children we would do a deal, I would eat her peas if she would eat my fish fingers. It was a good arrangement.