Equilibrium

 I woke up on Friday morning to discover that my sense of balance had stepped out for a bit. I assume it's some kind of inner ear thing - I didn't feel light-headed, faint, sick or anything like that, I just wasn't clear on what was up, down or sideways. I found myself clinging to the floor, thinking 'the enemy's gate is down' which isn't much help when you're trying to get to the bathroom. I'd be rubbish in space.

It eased, and sleep helps, but I'm still a bit off-balance and spinny. It's all very odd, and has meant I haven't done some of the things I've meant to do over the last few days.

However I have made bread (above) - on Saturday, from a packet mix admittedly, but it was quite nice and I feel inspired to make some more, this time not-from-a-packet-mix.

Today I did some spinning.

I've had a spindle or two since my re-enactment days. The light one got sat on by somebody and snapped but this one, my 'good' spindle survives. I don't know if it's 'good' in a spinning sense but as an object it is lovely. However I've never really got to get grips with spindling. Somebody kindly showed me the basics at a re-enactment event years ago - at Scarborough Castle actually, after a largely sleepless night in a tent pitched in the castle grounds. Scarborough Castle is on a headland sticking into the North Sea, and the wind was quite 'fresh' that night. So I didn't take it all in that day. But I've had a go a few times since and yesterday I actually got round to looking up a helpful Youtube video, which has helped. As you can see the 'yarn' is quite lumpy but believe me it's way better than it was. It suddenly started getting almost even instead of insanely thick immediately followed by insanely thin. I was quite proud of myself and went downstairs and said to My Beloved 'I've been spinning' and he looked confused and said, 'What, your head?'  Actually my head was surprisingly unspinny while I was spindling. The same cannot be said for the Powerhoop class I was at this morning - all those hoops spinning round and round and round did not help my balance issues :-D. Apparently I looked like a rabbit in the headlights. Hmm.

This evening, while watching last night's Top Gear, I've been going on with the yellow stripey thing, which I should have finished by now as we're onto Green (March/April) in the Project Rainbow spectrum, but there you go, these things happen. I should never have tried to knit it while watching engrossing subtitled Danish crime drama last week!  Talking of which, slightly tangentially, the next thing to get excited about is Shetland (showing next Sunday and Monday), which I am so looking forward to, even if Douglas Henshall is nothing like my idea of Jimmy Perez. I shall be squeeing at familiar places though, and looking out for one of my friends who was an extra for a day. And no, on a clear day you cannot see Norway..

A mostly picture post

Or 'Reasons To Be Cheerful in photographic form'!

Picture 1 - Why a Mostly Picture Post? Because going on a school trip* with a bunch of lively eight-year-olds takes it out of a girl! Can't stop yawning now! Hats off to their teacher, I don't know she does it day in, day out. It was a lovely day though - interesting and entertaining. Look what I found:

My favourite things - spindle whorls, needles and the like. I love seeing ancient things like these when you know what they were for and how they were used and it puts the rather distant concept of 'the ancient Egyptians' into some kind of context - it's not all pyramids and shabtis and hieroglyphics, it's also people making cloth. That's something I can relate to.

Picture 2 - here's Miss Mouse after the school Valentine's disco. She also came home with a chocolate heart (for being best dancer in Primary One) and three red fake roses. So a good night out! I sat in the room set aside for parents and got to know some of the other mums better which is always good.


Picture 3 - my current knitting (when I don't feel like doing my razorshell scarf). They're another pair of socks for the boy, 'negatives' of the last pair which he likes so much. The bright colours are Very Good For Me.

With my knitting is Miss Mouse's bookmark that she made at the local library's special storytime/craft session on National Libraries Day - the kids coloured in two bits of bookmark (front and back), stuck them together, then the librarian laminated it for them. I love that library!

*To Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.