Birthday in Norfolk

I ended up spending my birthday in Norfolk last week, as that was where I was working! I was rather amused by whoever left a comment on my last blog entry about there being computers and internet access in Norfolk! Yes, I know there are, but not where I was working (in the middle of nowhere, on the North Norfolk coast). I don't have internet access when I'm working onsite (most of my week), only when I work from home. I also work in the middle of the countryside when I'm onsite so there is no wi-fi for my laptop and nowhere near a library or similar with internet access. And working 8.30-6ish most days means I can't get to anywhere with access! Sometimes I strike lucky, like when I work in Derbyshire, the B & B I stay in there has wi-fi so I can get online. But most of the time I have to content myself with coming home after four or five days away for work to an exploding inbox and 157 blog updates to read!

But I like doing weeks away for work. Although it means a long drive to get there and back, I get plenty of free time in the evening to read and/or knit. When I work nearer home it's a 100 mile round trip every day, which really cuts into knitting time in the evening! And that is how I spent my birthday - no one at the site I was working at knew it was my birthday, so I could do exactly what I wanted. Which was to eat chocolate muffins, slob in front of the TV all evening and get on with the latest sock!

I'm having a few camera problems at the moment. It takes AA batteries, and the latest have run out. I'm getting fed up with using all those batteries and having to dispose of them, so have ordered a battery recharger and rechargeable batteries from Natural Collection. Which are currently stuck in the DHL depot in Lincoln waiting to be redelivered! So until they arrive photos are limited!

I am also spreading birthday celebrations out. This is a ball of Opal sock yarn from Mary Anne (thank you!!) and a new cake tin from my Mum. There is a chocolate cake inside it...
Next week (when I am working in Derbyshire!) I'm having tea with the nephew sprogs (possibly more cake then?) so it's important to keep celebrations going as long as possible!

Also, I've just found out that I'll be working down near Cambridge between December and February, which hopefully means I'll be able to meet up with some other knitters in the evening. It sounds like I'll be staying in an ex-stable block (just hope it has heating!) so probably no wi-fi there either...

Another nice surprise when I returned from Norfolk (to an exploding postbox) was the first issue of Yarn Forward - which looks like it's made a very good start. I liked the patterns and the articles, the fact that there was little advertising, and things like having different price ranges for yarn suggested. Haven't had time yet for a really thorough read but I'm looking forward to it! I also like the fact that it's quarterly, so you have time to get your head round it before the next issue comes out (and also means it works out at a very reasonable price.

Rachel from Knit Lincs has given me a copy of "Knitting for Peace", which, again, I haven't had time to more than flip through, but which has some great stories and ideas in it. I like the history of knitting recounted in it, although there is obviously a heavy US bias cos that's where it was published. And it doesn't mention charities such as Dulaan (which seems odd), or UK ones such as Feed the Children or the Knit a River thing. I don't agree with all the things that are said in the review of the book above (the link from the book's title), but I wanted to link to something thoughtful, rather than to Amazon (!). And I liked the countdown 'til the world is free of Bush counter at the bottom of her blog!