That was the week that was

What a week! In just over seven days, I have:-

1. Saturday. Australia Day, 26th January. Belated celebration of Howard's birthday with drinks, a tour of Hampton Court Palace (conducted by a friend who is a Warder), and dinner. Here is Malcolm trying to wish Howard "Happy Birthday!" :o)
   
2. Sunday. Attended an Asian wedding fair with my friend, Rima. Saw some amazing clothes and beautiful dresses. Oh. My. God. The work that goes into an Asian wedding outfit! I'm not sure if they are an embroiderer's heaven (the beadwork!) or hell (each dress is a labour of love). Rima will make a stunning bride.
   
3. Monday. Celebrated DH's birthday on Monday 28th January. His presents: a pair of socks made to the Yarn Harlot's "Earl Grey Sock" pattern; and a promise of the New England Patriots fleece of his choosing (since there was a chance they might win Superbowl XLII, it was worth hanging on to see if they'd issue a commemorative sweater). So that DH wouldn't think the socks were a present, I finished grafting the toes and sewing in the ends on Monday morning. (Got up extra early.) Not sure about the toes - the pattern narrows to 18 stitches, which looks rather pointed particularly on the one at the top of the picture. The yarn is by Lana Grossa. Here is a shot of the detail:
4. Tuesday. Hosted "the guys" for dinner prior to us all attending a games convention, Conception 2008. Fed them a modified version of the "sweet and sour pork" recipe from the latest Weight Watchers magazine. (instead of pork, I used 250g of the turkey frozen from Christmas). Recipe to follow sometime soon - not only is it low in points, the portions are massive.
   
5. Wednesday. Went to work, leaving a house full of sleeping guests. They headed off to Conception around lunchtime. The plan was that I would do a day's work and join them on the South Coast around 8pm. Was meant to finish work at 4.30pm; actually left the office at 7pm, having clocked up over 3 hours overtime in 2 days (I could have done with staying late on Tuesday, but it wasn't possible with everyone coming over for dinner). Nearly 2 hours and 100 miles later, I pulled into the "holiday village" and tried to figure out which cabin was ours.
6. Thursday and Friday. Played 3 sessions of Cthulhu; 1 session of Cold Cities; knitted a PAIR of socks(!). This is me, Max-the-GM and the sock: Cooked one supper for 6 guys who could compete in the eating Olympics (my version of Pipi-An, a Filipino "peanut chicken" dish - again, recipe to follow sometime soon). Made a horseshoe for a friend's wedding on the Saturday. And here is a shot showing the horseshoe and ribbon.
7. Saturday. Drove home, then into London to attend my first Black Tie wedding in two decades. The church was lit by candle-light, the bride was beautiful, the dress was by Vera Wang, the band was Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. DH looked as gorgeous as ever (did I tell you that the first time I saw him, he was wearing a dinner suit?) and we had a ball. Here is a shot of Kim and I in our party dresses. And the bride and groom.
8. Sunday. Attended the christening of the daughter of Saturday's bride and groom. Beautiful church (still filled with the flowers from the wedding), nice vicar. 300 metre walk to our host's home to toast the baby's good health.
9. Sunday night/Monday morning. Hosted a Superbowl Party. Just six of us (oh, and Rob-the-Giant's-fan in New Zealand, via text). This was the first year I have managed to stay awake right to the very end. And what an ending. DH was distraught as the New England Patriots lost in the final minute of the game. Amy, I was thinking of you. It was heart-breaking.
10. Monday. No work, thank God! The Superbowl finished around 3.30am. I have to drive to Site tomorrow, but today is my own. Woke up at 8.30, cooked breakfast for the survivors and settled down to blog.
    

- Pam