Saturday 12 July 2008

One small step for Byrne, one giant mess for Royal Mail

Hey look, my post from the last two weeks...
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To my absolute astonishment it actually was at the delivery office when we went to collect it this morning. Then when I got back the postman handed me three more red cards for things they "couldn't deliver". Unbelievable. Actually, bearing in mind that this is royal mail, believable.

On the plus side I basically got a second birthday since I finally got cards and presents! I got some awesome stuff. The big thing was an amazing edwardian glass necklace from my Mum, which can be seen here on top of the cupcake book from my sister.
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Sister Sian also got me some lovely Noro sock yarn to try out. I know I always hate noro because of the knots but I thought I'd give it another go.
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As well as the birthday presents I got parcels from a few swaps I've been doing. Blue stitchmarkers. These are amazing.
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Red stitchmarkers.
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Also some books from Bookmooch (see left sidebar). Two japanese knit books and crochet hats.
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I can't believe more people haven't joined Boookmooch. I got all these for FREE! Just posted some of my used books off to others who wanted them. Genius.

There were also a few things I got myself as birthday presents. I've been wanting this for quite a while...
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Am going to take it on holiday with me next week. Pooch and I are off to St Ives for 5 nights. While away I'll be working on my cable socks for the Ravelry Interweave Group July KAL. I've dyed up this yarn especially since I thought they really needed pink.
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My final self-present was 600g of Kauni. All 4 balls are the rainbow colourway. So lurvellllyyyy.
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Very finally, I've found a hexagon I like so am thinking of another afghan. Here's the pattern. This is my first attempt.
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I like it!

Wednesday 9 July 2008

At moments like this it is important not to run round screaming with your pants on your head

My ongoing saga with royal mail goes on. I haven't had any post since a week saturday. One of the things I am waiting for is a letter from the PO Box division giving me my PO Box details. I had assumed I hadn't had any post because Royal Mail hated me or something. But I've finally spoken to the delivery office (they do this thing of keeping you in a phone queue for ages and then picking up and slamming down the phone as soon as they answer) and the truth is almost apparent.

It turns out that since I applied for my PO Box they have been keeping all my post at the office for me to collect. This is without telling me. One of the things they have been keeping for me to collect is the letter containing the details of my PO Box. Yesterday, after numerous squeaks and complaints from me to customer services, they realised this and the parcels are on the van today to be delivered. Except the building intercomm is not working and so he won;t be able to get in. The intercom hasn't been working for two weeks now. It won't be fixed til Monday.

So...happy thoughts happy thoughts. The acting manager (the real manager is almost always on sick leave poor bugger) assures me I'll be able to pick it up on Saturday if I go down to the office with multiple forms of ID.

Fortunately this is keeping me sane. It's from the Mighty Boosh Festival at the weekend. We were really lucky it didn't rain. Pooch was on good form.
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There were loads of colourful characters. He actually kept those heels on for most of the day.
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The comedy tent was a bit of a washout - packed, small, one-in-one-out so massive queues and Matt Berry was a let down - very dissappointing. But the music stage was the main focus and had Gary Newman and the Charlatans as well as my personal favourite - Har Mar Superstar. He started the set fully clothed. And ended up....
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He was amazing. Truly. If you've seen the modern version of Starsky and Hutch he's the guy in the dance off with Ben Stiller at the disco. The headline act was the Boosh Band. It was just songs from the series but they were pretty good although no 'do you love me' from ol'greg. Julian Barrett showed how good a musician he is. His guitar kept the whole thing going.
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There was also time for a little knitting.
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You can see all my Boosh photos here.
On the knit front I've been making progress on my Henley. Mine's a cardigan. The back is done and I've started on the left front. The lace is pretty.
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Also on the knit front, I'm now a Director of the KCG!