summer's end

Well, here in Scotland, we're all getting back into the routine of school and nursery and looking outside, you'd think it was the depths of winter already! I know that nowhere in the UK has escaped the awful wet weather this summer but there is something about the rain that falls on the West Coast of Scotland that feels endless and seems to penetrate every nook and cranny so that you continually feel damp - it makes me long for the cold, dry and crisp sunshine of the East Coast that we left behind nearly two years ago now. Ah well, no better time for settling down with a good film and some knitting!

Although the weather hasn't been great, we've all had a lovely holiday and it's been quite a wrench to take Joe, my four year old, back to his morning nursery place. I'm not sure what I find more upsetting, leaving him there or the fact that he has only one more year of this before he starts school and what then? Whatever the reason, I'm afraid I shed a few tears again each time I left him last week and miss him dreadfully for the few short hours that he's away.

So, projects, projects...my mind is working overtime on where I go from here. Since we moved here, I've been really lucky to meet some great women, some of whom have become really good friends and we're all in the same boat - wanting to be around for our kids when they go to school yet wanting to fit in something stimulating for ourselves but what? At least I'm lucky in that I have come from an art and design background and therefore I can happily work from home but I need to decide how I want to target my work for now. It's been over two years since my last exhibition and slightly more since my commission for the Arches Healthcare Building which is the longest gap I've had and therefore a bit daunting but it also gives me the opportunity to think again about the direction my work should or could go in or indeed, whether I should change direction altogether and pursue my love of gardening and growing. Over the summer, however, we've had lots of fun doing some major projects, building cruise liners and chocolate factories as well as growing some lovely veg.

And I've been painting pots for my little cacti from Ikea. I still love that spring green, I know it's dead common but it gives me such a positive feeling when I see little snatches of it around the house.

I've also finally knitted up the yarn I bought from Loop when I was visiting big sis in London this time last year and you can't really get more autumnal than this. It needs a bigger button to make more of statement but I'll need to find one - hopefully I have a little time before I need to wrap up quite that warm!

Other than that, I'm still finishing a nice long black belted tabard-like top in a soft Debbie Bliss yarn and I am knitting a Kidsilk scarf for my sister in law and one for her daughter. I also went to John Lewis at the weekend to stock up on baby cashmerino as there's a couple of babies on the way, including one rather special one!

Anyway, it's time to pick up Joe and have some lunch so no major decisions have been made this morning, ah well! V