Memos, Mail, Me: Good In, Goods Out

So Monday, can we do it? We need to find jobs to keep us busy round the house all day. I have to stay in until the big box goes out.

dreaming of finding the sun, thanks to a postcard which arrived last week

It's been a weekend of deliveries here. Saturday, it was cold. Not below freezing cold, but by our standards chilly enough for us to draw a deep breath and turn on the gas fire. It took roughly a minute for us to remember why we hadn't used it in about four years. as the dust it had gathered since the last time we flicked the switch started to burn, the smoke alarms began to shriek. We sorted it and discovered that we were so nicely warmed through by the panic, we didn't need a fire anyway, nooo way. But we had shivered enough to make us think about Studentland and whether it was warm enough down there, if they had enough oil, so we did what I'd been promising to do for weeks now and bought them a little extra electric heater in a big box, which we delivered, with an extension lead. Students do all kinds of things to keep warm - at least they did in our day - so they're probably fine; but now they'll have the flickering glow of fake wood burning stove as they...work.

Other ways of keeping warm: a quick knit to keep her ears from freezing. Midas hat by Laura Reinbach (free pattern on ravelry. It's slouchy and comfy and uses less than a skein of beautiful sock yarn. This is from His Mermaid Yarns by Ewe Mama on etsy)

Sunday, we got up bright and early to make a second delivery, of dinners for Granny to put in her freezer. It's quite a drive, but there was plenty of student news to catch up on on the way. When we got there we discovered that Granny and Little E had been looking at old photos; and as we flipped through the albums we found a set of pictures Little E's mum had taken of us and our two before Little E has even been thought of (no - you're right - it's about as unimaginable as, mmm, no internet, perhaps?) We went back to the days of making cardboard machines and learning to ride without stabilisers and pairing a red dufflecoat with a tutu: long enough ago, now, to make us gasp. I borrowed the photos to scan and clean up, so maybe next week, if I'm on it, I'll have a fresh set of prints in the mail. 

And so to Monday and I'm waiting to send out another delivery. It's the first time we have tried using Uni Baggage to send a box to Scottish Studentland (news just in! he says that he is going to wear a kilt for Graduation in the summer! And no, Mum, you are not going to knit me kilt hose: they're coming from a shop, right?) In theory Uni Baggage sounds excellent. If it's a success, just think of the possibilities. Anything I'm tired of looking at round here? I just wrestle it into a big cardboard box and a nice man will come and put it in his van and take it away..

But that's goods out. And this is Monday and so I need to think of some mail in. Easy. This week's nicest post was a card from Deb featuring her own photo taken in Lagos. It was easy to imagine the Portugal sun warming up my hand as I read her note. She brought back happy memories of a couple of weeks I spent in Lagos some years back, staying with friends. There may have been swimming at midnight. I should look out the photos, add them to my order..

So, thanks, Deb! Now, how about you? Any mail made you smile in the last week? Anything new at the weekend? Maybe you'd like to make a memo. We'd certainly love to read it. Last time I was joied by Mondayers

  Deb, Ruth, Barbara, Mitra, Mary-Lou, Ladkyis, Karen, Maggie, Melissa, Lizzy, Honore, Cheri, Mardi, Alexandra, Krafty Karen and Susanne

Go on, give 'em a wave! And have a good week!