What? It is already half way through the month and I haven’t updated my blog. Sorry. It has been a weird month. Visits to the hospital, birthdays and the completion of the many baby blankets at last. I think I have finished doing things for others and will now concentrate on just one thing for me! Well, 2 maybe. I appear to have used and misplaced many knitting needles of the circular kind so I have to go hunting for them. I opened the addi click bamboo set and was amazed I have even misplaced one of a pair of tips, what was I thinking. The t-shirt I was planning on knitting from the yarn I got from Djuve Knits. Will go on hold until I find the needles. I just love Crofter but she has so many other nice yarns to choose from. I thought, in the meantime I would start a crochet t-shirt and guess what. I have managed to split the yarn I have in 2 lots and I have hidden one lot… I can honestly say, since working from home, I have become so muddle headed I don’t know which way is up. This pic is the beautiful Elias With his C2C.

The plus side to working from home is I spend a lot more time with John. Together we get to watch some amazing sunrises while we eat breakfast. I also get a bit more time with my boys. They never cease to make me smile. With the colder weather we are feeding them a bit more and hoping it keeps them warm. While I spend the days navigating the perils of Skype and Zoom, trying hard to keep my face from them both, I look forward to the evenings doing gentle crafts while keeping the company of an amazing person named John. Isolation isn’t bad and it isn’t really much different from my every day life. In fact, it gives me so much more time with those who matter.

I was shopping today and thought to myself; these last couple of months have changed the ways we shop and live. Melbourne seemed to think last weekend wiped the past couple from history, people hugging and kissing in the aisles at the supermarket, no one counting how many people were in the store, shoulder to shoulder. By Tuesday, 17 more cases of COVID19 some restrictions have been eased but not much. I noticed that most toilet paper was in bulk packets now, yeast was available by the half kilo and even some favourite biscuits were now available in triple packs.
Yes, we have become a nation who purchases things in bulk and large businesses take it for granted that now, a rush delivery will take at least 3 weeks. I purchased Johns birthday present two weeks ago and I only just got an email to say they will “ship it when they can”. So that Leaves me asking the question: what are they doing with my money? Who is making money on what I have paid up front for?

Ok, enough negative. I finished the blanket for Hugo’s new addition. Her photo is darling, now just 2 blankets to go. I am getting way too many ideas and I just wish I had the time to make them all. I almost had the courage to start warping up the Inkle loom but today, John just wants to watch some movies and heck, it is his birthday so why not? I can crochet as I watch movies.

The weekend at dads was fun and yes, that overgrown garden is still providing us with beautiful vegetables. I am hoping the next visit I will plant some brassicas. Until them, I am hoping the possums don’t eat the seedlings I took with me. I took no knitting or crochet. I tried to just focus on the loom but falling ill didn’t help and it sat in my car, untouched. Ok, I have the loom, the cottons, the heddles have been made… wish me good luck. Today is possibly the day I take the leap. I hope I find it as enjoyable as spinning. I hope to make Linda ( and mum Linda) so proud and happy they influenced my crafting so much.

Ok, I will leave my ramblings here and spend some time paying attention to the movie and of course, darling John! I hope his 60th birthday is at least a little more fun then he was expecting. This is Squirrel signing off, until the next chapter.

It is like we stopped existing and started living. We are more involved in living life since this COVID-19 took hold. I am at my fathers, I came after a doctors appointment yesterday and I have spent the morning in the garden with him. Dare I say, I wore him out. We harvested more tomatoes including more Black Krims and Cherokee purples and 3 more zucchini’s! A little haul of potatoes and it looks like we will eat well this weekend. I am amazed it is ANZAC day and we are still harvesting!

I haven’t started my weaving but while Sis is still sleeping and dad went back to bed to rest after a busy morning, I may just start loading the loom. I left the book at home but I think I can work out the basic pattern!

While I did not hear anyone playing the last post at dawn, we have heard it played over and over and now, the neighborhood has woken up and are busy mowing and playing and laughing out loud. This isolating business has put a halt to plenty of normal gatherings on this day. No BBQ’s no two up games just quiet family activities.

Yes folks, I am a fan of Urban Fantasy. In particular, I really enjoy reading the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.

In anticipation of his new release on July 14, I am re-reading books one to 15 again. This last week I have had a holiday and have already read 3 more books. The second time around I have found them even more enjoyable and have picked up on funny little lines and references. I’m laughing out loud and scaring the bejesus out of John at times.

The old IT man at work would regularly make jokes about my computer not working properly and the presence of ‘majik’. He also thought it was why my work garden experiments worked so well. At present the tomato plant is trying hard to grow through to the next floor.

I finally finished tidying up my second hand inkle loom and I am just procrastinating in warping it up and having my first whirl. Maybe tomorrow afternoon when I get back from tending to dads garden.

On another note, I can’t let it by that we are in the beginning of a ‘Pandemic’ they tell me on the news. Toilet paper seems to be the most in demand. I have never seen such panic buying before. Toilet paper seems to be like gold! It is becoming hard to find and I see people stacking their trolleys when it is in stock. Medicines such as Paracetamol and Aspirin are becoming hard to find. All I can say is PLEASE don’t panic. PLEASE do not flush hand wipes and disinfectant wipes and PLEASE be considerate of others. You don’t really need 700 rolls of bog tickets!!!

You might have noticed the site URL no longer comes with a warning of ‘Not Secure!” and instead shows a little padlock before the domain name.

Oh yeah! We are now “certified”. 🙂

With a growing number of browsers no longer letting people access http sites, I went out and updated SockDiva.com to https. What that means – and for those who like tech talk:

“Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a server and a client—typically a web server (website) and a browser, or a mail server and a mail client (e.g., Outlook).

SSL allows sensitive information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, and login credentials to be transmitted securely. Normally, data sent between browsers and web servers is sent in plain text – leaving you vulnerable to eavesdropping. If an attacker is able to intercept all data being sent between a browser and a web server, they can see and use that information.

More specifically, SSL is a security protocol. Protocols describe how algorithms should be used. In this case, the SSL protocol determines variables of the encryption for both the link and the data being transmitted.

All browsers have the capability to interact with secured web servers using the SSL protocol. However, the browser and the server need what is called an SSL Certificate to be able to establish a secure connection.

SSL secures millions of peoples’ data on the Internet every day, especially during online transactions or when transmitting confidential information. Internet users have come to associate their online security with the lock icon that comes with an SSL-secured website or green address bar that comes with an Extended Validation SSL-secured website. SSL-secured websites also begin with https rather than http.”