Lions and.... Oh My! That's super cute!

Found via Ruffled Feathers:

(Image by ElizabethD: blog/flickr)

There are few things for which I would say this (and even then, undoubtedly only online), but... OMW (oh my wow) that's cute!

Geocaching Extremes

I've just noticed that as of yesterday, my four 'geocaching extremes' are in entirely different locations:

• Most Northerly find - Newcastle: The Bigg Market (GCW1GY), Tyne and Wear, UK
• Most Easterly find - TM, UTM, or What? (GCVZFK), Saarland, Germany
• Most Southerly find - Maryland Municipal League Geotrail - Annapolis (GC1J67X), Maryland, USA
• Most Westerly find - Bookworm #2 (GC1E7F3), Pennsylvania, USA

I think this is quite cool!

(Interestingly, these caches each have some sort of other memorable significance. Newcastle: The Bigg Market was a very clever hide which inspired the location for my cache University Challenge: Lancaster; TM, UTM, or What? was a puzzle that almost got away, despite being within my computing knowledge; Maryland Municipal League Geotrail - Annapolis was a foolish endeavor that took many times longer than anticipated and involved wading through snow/ice; and Bookworm #2 was way too tall for this Saffy to reach [until she found a stack of crates outside a near by drug store].)

Nights Away

I've had the record card for GirlGuiding North-West England's 'Get Away From Home' challenge on my desktop for a number of weeks now. I need to sort it out for the Brownies and Guides but tonight I sat down and went through my calendar to see what I've done since January 2008:

Some observations...

• Busyness really does clump together. Compare camping in 2008 to 2009 (20 nights vs. 5 nights total), in particular summer 2008 which involved four separate camps - remember also these are just Guiding commitments, there were many other nights away from home that weren't Guiding related.
• I do many more one and two night residentials than I would have acknowledged, this actually accounts for most of my nights away.
• I don't do most of my nights away from home at Silverdale and Forton - if I'd been asked prior to this I'd have told you I did almost all our nights away at these two sites.
• I need to stay at home more!

And now it's bedtime. Here in Maryland (oh look, I'm away from home again) it's gone 10:30pm - definately time for this jet-lagged English girl to get some sleep!

Slow and Steady

My fundraising for GOLD (Guiding Oversees Linked with Development) is progressing, slowly but hopefully steadily (and even more hopefully with ever-increasing momentum). I finally got round to writing to the Trefoil Guild (National, Regional, County and Local) last night, and the badges I put on eBay mostly sold (five out of six) raising a total of £4.78 once the costs were taken out... not bad for five badges, now to sell some more!

I realise I haven't actually written anything about GOLD yet, I will... soon.

PS - It's pancake day - time to dig out the dairy and egg free pancake recipe.

Spring is Sprung

Or so these snowdrops in Hightown, Formby think...

Reaching a Landmark

An insignificant landmark perhaps, but as of this evening I have knitted one of the two skeins of Kraemer Silk and Silver I'm using for the Lace Ribbon Scarf. I started this scarf back in May (the first thing I bought at Natural Stitches) and can now claim to be at least 50% of the way through. Hurrah!

Getting Organised

I have been sorting through the ebay/freegle pile and have finally put a few items onto ebay. There's still more to go but it seems to be one of those jobs that takes longer than I expect. It's taken me most of the afternoon to list a grand total of 9 items for sale.

Six Guide Badges:

And three random unwanted, unused things that have hung around the house for two long (a KVM, a cat flap and a little mechanics project):

Still lots more odds and ends to sort through but this is a start... here's to more productivity.

PS - You can check these items out on my ebay listings page. Funds raised from the sale of the Guide badges will go towards my fundraising for the GOLD (Guiding Oversees Linked With Development) project in Armenia this summer.

FO: It Snows Scarf #2

Finally something else finished! Although I did start this sometime after saying I was going to finish everything I've got on the go first, but it's for a good cause :)

Like the first one, this second scarf is part of the knitted costumes for the upcoming Dukes Senior Youth Theatre production of It Snows. Originally I agreed to do one scarf, one hat and a pair of gloves but it seems that some misallocation occurred and they received sufficient hats and scarves before I had cast mine on. So instead I've completed two scarves, the first a simple dropped yarn over scarf on the largest needles I could find, and this second one a more leisurely clapotis.

Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Stylecraft Special Chunky in colour 1001 - White.
Mods: Just size - it's narrower than the pattern calls for.
Project: online on Ravelry.

Friday Fill-In

It's been a while... This week's Friday Fill In:

1. I know where I’m going, and I know who’s going with me; I know who I love but the Dear Lord knows who I’ll marry.

2. February is not the longest month. (but perhaps it has other values)

3. You can't help but sing, sing, sing!

4. It's nearly the weekend; bring it on!

5. Where have you looked, for that is clearly where it is not hidden.

6. Saffy's brain is now available. (It's been missing for some time but has crawled out from under whichever rock it was hiding with and is beginning to resemble its old self... maybe)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to bed before midnight (I hope), tomorrow my plans include knitting at the Sultan and Sunday, I want to feel like I've had a weekend and like I'm ready to really work a proper week - no excuses!