Mood blankets and sunshine days..........

Wow, people - you are still there! I am amazed, and it is a miracle. Thank you all for sticking around.

The sun shines here once again - this has been a strange winter here in the UK. There has been no snow where I live, and a great deal of rain, but down south the rain has been of biblical proportions, and the storm surges have been devastating too. Areas of Somerset have been under water since the start of the year. I am ever so thankful that I live on a hill, and that the water flows down hills. Instead, I can report that the snowdrops are all emerging from the soil. Spring is just a month or two away.

The computer and I got re-acquainted yesterday. It has been a LOOOONG time since I sat down at it, and I had to migrate my Flickr account, and create new email addresses and it was all head sort of stuff. Concentrate, Linds. My broadband supplier gave me Flickr Pro free back when you had to pay for uploading more than a few photos, and it is now leaving Yahoo, so I had to rescue my account or lose the photos. It took a while to dare to press the button. However, it was dead easy in the end. I just complicate things for myself sometimes.

I have also decided that this is the year I am going to move all my digital things away from said broadband provider, so I cannot be held hostage every year as it raises its prices, and complicates my life by necessitating calls to places east of here. A long way east. It will take a year, believe me. (Although I do acknowledge that it would take my daughter or sons about 10 minutes. But I am different.) 

While I was attempting to see how many email addresses I could have from one server with the same password and other exciting stuff, like how does snapchat work and I really need to get to grips with Instagram, Diana was making the most DELICIOUS pie for supper. She called it "Left over Pie" - everything left in the fridge from the weekend went into it and it was sensational. There was not a crumb left. I know this, because I made sure I ate every last crumb.  I also made her hold it as it came out of the oven while I tried to find the camera and take the photo. It was very hot. But I loved the smiley face. 

About Instagram. I have had an account since it arrived on the scene, but have never done much with it. Like take a photo. I must improve. Once I work out how to do it all properly. I want to see the Crochet Mood Blanket stuff. 

Talking about the mood blankets......

Well, you see, a lady named Stacey suggested a group on Instagram who could crochet a Mood Blanket this year. One stripe or square or hexagon per day or week, depicting the mood of the person making it. And by the end of the year, we could have huge beautiful blankets. And she expected a few to join in. 

It exploded. 

And on Facebook, there is now a group of nearly 4,000 people as well. The community which has grown from it is delightful. Ladies are arranging real life meetings, and the response to new people joining, to questions, to suggestions, has been fantastic. Links abound, and those just learning are getting so much encouragement. It is such fun. Someone mentioned that she was a day or so behind because she had some little blankets to make for the local NICU babies, and I thought that was a fabulous idea. I want to try and make a few this year. They are so very tiny and quick to make. Maybe a lot more babies around the globe will be getting little blankets too. 

I have just been thinking about the mood blanket idea. It is also, perhaps, a monitor of our lives. Too many grey or dark days could be a reminder that we have the power to change what happens in our daily lives. Little bits at a time. You see, I have no desire to see gloom spread across my lap as I make my squares. I get to choose what colour defines my days. And, as we all know, there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for. Being thankful makes me smile. If I smile, the mood lightens. 

My blanket is going to be bright. 

Because I am not supposed to do a lot of tight gripping, I have acquired a soft handled crochet hook, and it is a delight. It sort of swivels in my hand and I can hold it lightly. The hand therapist lady does raise her eyebrows and talk of slowing down and pacing and all that familiar stuff. I do try to listen. And while I am sitting here, I am doing her exercises. 

There was a small pause as I did another one. Elbows on desk, arms straight up and hands straight together in prayer position. Slide arms out, keeping hands together till on wrists are almost flat, and hold it there.Tick that box.

I am also back in the water at last. I had to wait until the wrist was healed before I got back in again. I really missed it, and am delighted to be back. I creak a great deal more, of course. It just goes to prove exactly why constant exercise is so important, especially for me. Without it, I know exactly where I would be, and that is never going to be an option. Never.  Having a determined streak (aka stubborn, and all the more derogatory terms) is a real blessing at times. So are naps. 

And I need to go and get some more rodent stuff....................