MeerTrekkie Burrow

You all know my friend Barry, who takes the MeerTrekkies to meet the humans (and aliens) from Star Trek, don't you?

His July event requires him to carry no less than three meerkats at a time - and his pocket just can't accommodate that many little paws so I thought I'd better make him a burrow.

I'll bet Scotty, Kirk and Bones never anticipated that. Come the day it'll actually be Tuvok, Riker and 7of9 snuggled up in the burrow...what can I say? Have fun Barry! 

In case you're wondering, yes that is my Original Series command sweater. And no, I won't be putting it on any time soon to show you! Live long, and prosper.

Diamond Jubilee Meerkats!

Queen Elizabeth celebrates an amazing 60 years on the throne this year and there will be festivities across the commonwealth. The village we have recently moved to is holding a lunch with Regal Feast of Puddings!

Of course the meerkats need to get involved.

So far I've created a Beefeater. No, not a meerkat eating roast beef, a yeoman of the Guard - they guard the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London. Well, the humans do. As far as I'm aware, no meerkats are truly Beefeaters.

He's available in my Etsy shop here and will be added to my other shops as and when!

The Queen is apparently a big fan of bagpipe music - you can join her in her appreciation whilst still showing your love of the meerkats...

He's also available from Etsy

I'm not sure who else deserves meerkatting - any ideas? I'm thinking of Her Majesty herself (with corgi!) and maybe a Guardsman, complete with bearskin - what would you like to see me knit to add to the Diamond Jubilee Meerkats?

I've found my new indoor photoshoot spot

One thing I wanted when we moved was to have a place to take photos where I don't have to put everything away each time - and I think I've found it!

Our new house is partly open-plan with double height ceilings and a gallery - and that is *mine*!

This first shot was taken from my seat at the computer, you can see the gallery is above the kitchen. If you have very good eyes (and click on the photo to enlarge) you might be able to spot that one of myfridge magnets is a pic of the lovely Johnny Depp by Silja Erg!

 This is the view up the stairs - again, the eagle-eyed might spot my little flutterbutt by Sharona of Raisinlike

 Here is my set-up, below two windows which are great for watching the stars and by day give light from two directions. There's just room for my light box, tripod and chair. The little storage chests behind hold my stock - and Captain Picard is ready for his close-up.

 Looking down from the gallery to the main room, you can see the computer to the right where I sat for the first shot.

 And this is the view from behind the chair on the gallery, over the stairs to the balcony off the bedroom. Just look at that view!

I'm not *quite* satisfied - at the moment my light box is standing on one of my yarn storage boxes, I need to replace that with a small table. Getting there though! Here's Picard, straight from the camera without any photoshopping...

Not bad, is he? Maybe just needs lightening a little. "Tea, Earl Grey, hot."

Surprise!

I don't *always* like surprises, but when the postman delivered this package this morning I knew it would be a good surprise!

Don't you love the name of my new house: Stargazy! There are no streetlights or light pollution around here, so we can certainly gaze at the stars. Back to the parcel - isn't it pretty? I wonder who it's from? Who do I know in France?

Oh I see - it's from Louloute Otter!

I'd forgotten, but April 1st (April Fools Day to the UK) is Poisson d'Avril in France, so Louloute sent me some beautiful fishes to stick to the backs of people I wish to prank (look out!) and... chocolate fishes!

Aren't they cute?

We had to test two immediately, but the others deserved special treatment, so I got out my baking equipment for the first time since we moved house...

You'd better be quick if you want a slice, Louloute - MrNifty is very skilled at eating chocolate cake, very skilled indeed. Thank you Louloute! If you're now thinking otters are just what you *really* need to find out more about (or maybe just need instruction on how to make toast), hop over to http://www.iamotter.co.uk/

I've almost been knitting :-)

Not a new character, but a redesign. You may have seen the photos of Barry accompanied by meerkats at Star Trek conventions? - well, the next one will be attended by the delightful Nichelle Nichols!

Uhura Meerkat was one of my first designs, so I thought I'd better have another look at her before she met her real-life counterpart.

I've added black trimming to her asymmetrical neckline and sent her to the hairdresser - isn't she lovely?

Available "knit to order" from Etsy, my other shops are currently "ready to ship" only, but I'm happy to transfer her on request.

For those of you who are still confused by the big strong man in the fan photos - no, it's not me, it's Barry. Do those hands look like they can knit tiny meerkats? Really?

Rural bliss

So I *still* haven't started knitting again - there is just so much exploring (and nest building) to do!

Our main reason for moving to the seaside was to relocate our daily walks - but we had a niggling worry that we'd miss the countryside.

Luckily we've got the best of both worlds here. Literally just around the corner from our house we found a footpath leading up a field...


I've often shared photos of lambs when we've been walking




but we've never before been able to see the sea at the same time!!


We resisted the temptation to have lunch at the Royal Oak - but if you're in the area they have a great menu which includes a "daily deal" for £4.95. (We had gammon steak, chips and salad last week and it was yummy.)

We headed back past the church through fields to Fairlight and then along the cliffs back to Pett Level.

Isn't this a great viewpoint? All downhill from here I'm pleased to say!


I've zoomed in on the white cuboid house you might spot on the beach - it's the Big White House featured on Grand Designs. We watched the programme when it aired in 2003 (I think?) but had no idea at that time that we'd move here.



I promise I'll start knitting again soon....!

Our new neighbourhood

Well, we've finally moved, the computer is back up and running and I've even started knitting again. Time to catch up, and as always you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them:

On Sunday (the day before we officially moved to Pett Level) we walked from Pett to Winchelsea along the Royal Military Canal, built way back when to defend the UK from Napolean Bonaparte. It was a glorious spring day with a brisk breeze - we were putting layers on and taking them off again all day!


The end is in sight - can you see the towers of Winchelsea Strand Gate on the horizon in the photo below? Years ago I took a series of photos starting here for my first website celebrating the Lone Pine Club books by Malcolm Saville. I should probably retake them now I have a better camera, they're a bit washed out!


The photo below is taken from the Strand Gate at Winchelsea, looking back across the canal and marshes to the sea. We had a quick pint in a pub garden, then headed back down the hill again to find the coast.


Yes, it's spring - lots of proud mums around!


The tide was out - we were very pleased to see so much sand, we'd thought we'd moved to a mostly shingly beach!


Nearly there (below). In the distance you can see Cliff End which is where we will leave the beach and turn right to head for our new home. Apparently there are many fossils to be discovered here at low tide, but we will have to time it correctly - it's 3 miles before the cliffs can be ascended again and I'm not that good a swimmer. Certainly not for today, at the end of a five mile walk.


One last photo... I was entranced by the beautiful designs (and I use the word deliberately) that the sea has drawn in the sand - isn't it wonderful?

Moving in day!

Very excited to be moving into our new home today!

Yesterday we walked for hours in our new area, along the canal to the next town, Winchelsea, and then back along the beach.

Took loads of photos but haven't got them on the computer yet - just this one which amused me somewhat - you might have seen it on facebook yesterday, but if not...I see a female figure on the left and a rabbit on the right. Wonder what they're talking about?




It's actually a pair of very weathered sea-defence groynes.