What do you call a baby coot?

Life in isolation just rolls on and I still don't seem to be achieving nearly as much as I thought I would.

I have been trying to walk every day and have managed to get out most days even though the walking tracks are very busy.

I have been visiting the water birds regularly - they're just at the end of my street and over the bridge.  I've discovered that they are not Dusky Moorhens which have red beaks but Eurasian Coots with white beaks.  I couldn't decide whether their young were chicks or ducklings but apparently they are known as Cooties - who knew? 

There are 2 adults and 2 cooties - not sure if they are a family or 2 single mothers - but they are making good progress and getting bigger. 

Probably just as well so late in the season.

I have finished the cardigan I started at least 4 years ago, and the wool was even older as I had started to knit a different jumper before I pulled it out and started this one.  It had a nice bath in eucalyptus wool wash, both the stain and the smell from its time in the gutter are gone.

Caramel from Ravelry if you need the details.

I got out the mystery shawl and despite a lot of tidying, the pattern didn't re-appear.  I looked at it carefully and worked out from what I had already done, what the pattern might be.  I've started again, it might not be exactly what I was doing at the beginning but it will be pretty close. 

The only problem now is how to stop.  I wonder how much I should knit and how to finish it off.  I'm thinking that I'll just knit off the edge stitches with a garter stitch band to match the band along to other edge.

I've noticed that there's a lot more action on the blog list than normal.  That's probably not a surprise as we've all got more spare time than usual.  I've been grateful for some of the ideas and surprised by how similar some things are.

I read Kate Davies at needled who shared her Oatcake recipe and I had to make some.  They taste just fine but next time, and there will be a next time, I'll follow the directions more carefully and toast the seeds before I add them.

Peg over at Weaving a Gem of a Life has been out writing on the sidewalk/pavement/footpath with chalk.  Not just in the US, this is what I found on the path leading the the cooties the other day.

Callie  at Bonny Claith has been having trouble with her electrical appliances but I can assure her it's not just in Scotland.  A few weeks ago I was rudely awoken by my burglar alarm going off for no apparent reason, about an hour after I went to sleep.  Fortunately my electrician was able to solve the problem over the phone.  A few days later the picture on my TV disappeared, the sound was just fine and it took me quite a while to get it back to normal.  Today the control panel for the heater has gone blank so there's no heating and it is getting cold enough to need it.

I'm now on to the third of the tea towels, I've managed to do just 2 repeats.  There might be a bit more weaving this week because there is a heater out in the garage and it might well be warmer out in the garage than in the house. 

I think I've worked out why I'm doing so little weaving with a bit of help from Daryl Lancaster at Daryl's Blog.  She was talking about how she works best under pressure and I suddenly realised that at present I'm under absolutely no weaving pressure at all.  Markets are cancelled for the forseeable future, so no need to make heaps of stock. The Sheep Show is also cancelled until 2021.  No opportunity to replenish the stash there this year and no need to start working on some thing for the competitions.  The local Complex Weavers were planning an exhibition for the middle of the year, also postponed til 2021, so no deadlines there either.  

I have been working on tidying up my study - I started to do it about 12 months ago but stalled.  I have started working on a mountain of shredding  and have made good progress on filing heaps of weaving notes.  I can't say I keep perfect notes but there is usually a draft, a tie up and sometimes even a project sheet.  I have almost got it to the point where I can refer to the notes from last project if I decide to make something similar.

It's definitely Autumn.  The Mushrooms in the park are doing well

and my Sasanqua camellias went from this

to this in just a few days

Then the Japanese anemones joined in as well

That's about it for now.  I need to get an early start in the morning, hopefully I will be able to find someone who can sort out my heating

Helen