I've transferred my blog!

I have moved my blog from here, as it was too hard to post all the photos I wanted, or videos. My new address is above, or here http://xanga.com/coveredlady
Do go and look, as I have put loads of new stuff on, and I have also transferred all the posts from here too.
Hope to see you all there! Paula

Bowling Cloth Finished!

Hi all, I have finally finished the cloth for the bowling party, and here is a picture of it:- (not blocked!!)

(As this isn't a good picture, here is the one from the original site ) Rachel has kindly given permission to link to her here! (http://www.knitsbyrachel.com/)

I thoroughly recommend her site. there are loads of unusual cloths, kitchen cloths that are designed to hang over your cooker rail, and place mats too. I could have bought sooo many!I am nearly finished a fantastic gecko cloth, given to me by my good friend Shirley, designed by her friend Amy. Keep looking, as she has given me permission to post the pattern FREE!!

I think I may try my next cloth on smaller needles, or double up the yarn, as my pictures never seem to "pop" as much as others I have seen. I shall keep you posted!

I might post later, as DS R has said that I haven't said anything about all our animals, so I might take some pics ( when we get some new batteries!) and let you all see all my "babies"

Bye for now then, dearest friends, Paula

PS. Please don't just lurk! leave a small comment just so I know I've been read! Thank you. x

My Headcovering

A lot of people have asked why I cover while I'm out, so I thought I'd do a small post just about that, to try to explain.
This is the passage that started my thinking, and then I read more about it.

1 Corinthians 11
1. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

Propriety in Worship 2. I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings,[a] just as I passed them on to you.
3. Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
4. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.
5. And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is just as though her head were shaved.
6. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head.
7. A man ought not to cover his head,[b] since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
8. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man;
9. neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.
10. For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.

11. In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.
13. Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14. Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him,
15. but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. 16. If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.


A lot of the discussion about these passages, have said that is was just about "that" time, and women did automatically cover their heads, but in this passage Paul specifically says that not covering a woman's head is to be as if shaven.
Because of all the hairstyles we have now, the significance of this is not clear, but a woman who was a prostitute, or who had committed adultery, would have had her head shaven as a punishment, or to show "what she was"

This passage is from the site http://www.bible-researcher.com/headcoverings.html and it deals specifically with the view that it was just the fashion at the time.

"3, It is not safe to set aside any portion of Scripture, especially of the New Testament, without compelling reasons. If we can dismiss this portion of Scripture so lightly, we can dismiss anything in Scripture which disagrees with the fashions (both sartorial and moral) of our times. A passage which on its face offers what may even be called moral reasons for this garment is being dismissed as culturally relative and now obsolete. This is a very dangerous hermeneutical precedent, and I cannot believe that the avoidance of unstylish head coverings for the ladies is worth the trouble we will get from compromised principles of interpretation.

4. We should not be asking how much we are allowed to ignore the literal instructions of this passage or any other passage of Scripture so long as we claim to be observing the "spirit." We should be asking how we may best obey it both in spirit and in the letter."

(hermeneutical = In contemporary usage in religious studies, hermeneutics refers to the study of the interpretation of religious texts.)
I shall add more to this later, Ds needs me at the moment!
I know its all a bit "heavy" but it does explain why I cover, and why any woman who believes in The Bible should think about doing so, even if it is just at church.

News on the Romance Front...

Well, I am sorry to have to say, I made a mistake! Rare occurance I know (lol!)


The so called courting GreatTits, were in fact, a family. Blame the site I went to, that described the babies as not looking so much like the parents!



We know this for sure, because all 5 babies and the mum and dad all came to the feeder at once! My tree feeder is right by my mini greenhouse, and all the fledglings sat on the plastic, while the parents got food and fed them there! It was toooo cute! They all looked just like the adults, but just a bit" rougher" around the edges, and smaller obviously!


They're cheeping such a lot, we can even hear them through the double glazing! They are all flying, but the parents are obviously still feeding them. A couple of the babies, (or just one several times!) have come to the winow feeder, but every time I raise the camera they fly off! They are so much more timid than the parents.



I finally have a photo of one of the parents:-




Isn't he a handsome specimen?

I also have finally managed to get a pic of our Robin :-

This is the Dad, and I do have a Very Rare pic of the mum. She doesn't like being photographed in her moulting state, but I did catch her.

This morning its pouring with rain, but we've had the best day for birds so far!

You would think they would stay in the trees, but they are all out, even the Blackbirds that we hardly ever see! Perhaps the rain gets all the worms out or something, but even the birds who just eats seeds are out, so go figure!

Here is the female then, please excuse her feathers, before the babies she looked lovely!

(Like most of us mothers!!)

The feathers on top of her head are doing a sort of Mohawk thing, and her poor bottom... black and white and speckled! Very scraggy, but don’t tell her I said so!

I apologise for such a bird-based post, but we took so many pics this morning, I just had to show you!

I'm going to sign off now, but if we get any more good pics I'll write more later!

New Bird!!

Hi all, well, great news on the bird front. We now have 2 "courting"couples in our garden! A pair of Greenfinches, see pic below.

( I have to admit that this isn't my actual finch but it looks so like him, I think he must do publicty photos for the finch community) Their feeder looks nicer than my one as well!

Anyway, there are a pair of them, and one has been courageous enough to use the window feeder. DH C did take a pic of him, but it was too blurred to use! (hasn't got his new glasses yet!) If I do get a good pic I'll share it. I have had the feeder for years, and never had a Greenfinch before, so you understand my excitement! I have read though, that Robins don't often put up with them, as they go after the same food, so we'll have to see if our Robin will stand for it! (He is still too busy with his chicks to be bothered with anything except where the next worm is coming from, but they'll be leaving soon, so watch out finches!)

The other "couple" are Great Tits, and they are so romantic to each other! I first thought one was a chick, as the male was feeding it, but after research, it was a female, and so was being lovingly fed by her mate! The two sexes do look similar, but the female is a bit paler, and with not such a bright contrast between the black and white. They are fluttering around the whole day, feeding from the tree hangar, flying back and forth between the trees, and having a wonderful time. I have read that they do like to nest in firs, so I'm hoping they choose ours! They are much more difficult to get a piture of though, because they don't normally stay at the feeder to eat, they just get a seed and fly off and eat it.

They are picky feeders though, and will pull out any seeds they don't eat and toss them aside, until they get to the ones they want. They love the sunflower seeds, so I'm hoping if I get flowers from mine later in the year, the birds will feed from them.

4. The slugs haven't done any more damage yet, but I'm sure they will if I don't get something ready for them. A lot of people I have read about just go out in the late evening on a slug-watch, and just collect them all. Another mothod that doesn't excite me. Well, what do you do with a bag full of slugs? (and don't say throw them next door! They'll only come back!)

5. DS R had to do his first round in the rain today, and got completely soaked. He also had all the Sunday papers, which were even heavier than the Saturday ones! His list of houses also got wet, and disintigrated, so the last few were done by memory! We'll have to get a plastic folder for him for the next rainy day!

1. The bowling cloth that was going so well, mysteriously produced another stitch, but it was about 5 rows down, so I had to frog it to there. I know its just a cloth, but I would always know the mistake was there, so it had to go! Now I've lost a bit of the enthusiasm for it. Never mind, got quite a while yet before it has to be done!

That'll be all for now, been asleep most of the day because the pain has been bad, but still feel a bit tired. Chat soon, Paula x

Saturday 24th May

Hi again! Well today started off wet, but now at 4pm its lovely and sunny. I've tempted fate a bit by putting some washing out, so I'm to blame if it goes miserable again!

1. Got 24 rows done of the bowling cloth prize for the party (3) its looking quite good. I had to buy the pattern, as I couldn't find a good one with a bowling pic on, but I think it was only about £1. I'm doing it in a medium blue, so it will be good for a girl as well as a boy. (hope I win it lol!)

2. Still haven't finished the bonnet. I have put the cover back on the sewing machine too, which always makes me less likely to do anything! If I could use it in bed, I would be much more likely to finish it, but its too heavy for my bed table. Perhaps I should get one of those tiny cheap machines just for these occasions!

4. Looked online for slug repellents, and found some people use coffee grounds mixed in the soil, copper rings, that the slugs don't like crawling over, and also porridge oats, which apparently they eat, and it expands their stomachs, and then you can guess the rest...eugh! I can just see a row of exploded slugs for me to clear up in the morning! As you might guess, I haven't decided on which method I'll try! Lots of people use saucers of beer, to drown them when the slugs can't get out, but there again we have dead slugs to deal with! I don't particularly want to kill them, as they are still God's creatures. (gross ones, but made by Him none the less!) I just don't want them eating my veggies! Watch this space!

5. The papers were late this morning, and Ds R had to be at the paint balling by 8.30, so dear hubby had to do it!! There were only 17 houses apparently, but it was 2 full paper bags! Some house have 2 Saturday papers, with about 100 supplements (according to DH) and it takes about 4 goes to get them all through the letterbox! I was cosy in bed though, as I had been awake all night getting R's clothes all washed and dried for him. (Why do boys only notice their going out clothes are dirty when its too late to do anything about it??)

7. The mother robin was at the feeder today, which means all the babies have fledged, but she was still feeding them. She is moulting too, and she does look a bit of a state! I read today that it takes 500 - 600 worms to feed a baby robin until it leaves the nest. No wonder the dad was here every 5 minutes getting worms for them!

9. C is playing a concert tonight, helping out Ware Brass. There are so many bands that ask him to help them, he could be out every night if he wanted! He did get the ultimate compliment just before the Regional's competition though, a band told him not to come to their practices, as they had to learn to cope with the playing without him! He is so talented, I'm so proud!

While I was waiting for the washing machine to finish each time last night, I was tweaking this blog. I now have some Flickr pics on show, and if you click on them, I've written all about the patterns, and what I made them for. Some I haven't been able to find the designer's name for yet, but I am searching all my old patterns so I can credit the right people.
Its quite emotional sorting out the old patterns, remembering who I made them for, and the recipient's reactions! I'm just a bit softy at heart!

I was really surprised to see that 2 people had read my 1st day, especially as it had only been up since lunchtime yesterday! They both left some nice comments too. I have a survey at the bottom of this page, so you can tell me how I'm doing, but the text is too dark, and I don't know how to lighten it. Time will teach me I suppose!

That's it for now, I may do more later, as I have other things I meant to say, but am too tired to write now! Chat soon, Blessings to you all, Paula

1st Post!

Well, I've finally got up the courage to do this!


I have been meaning to get a blog up & running for ages, but I've never seemed to get around to it. I read so many others, and thorougly enjoy them, so who knows? Someone might enjoy mine!

Things happening in my life at the moment:-

1. Knitting cloths like mad!
2. I've started headcovering while outside, as per 1 Corinthians, 11, amongst other reasons.
3. Trying to organise a party outing for 2 of my Ds's, that will suit a 10 yo and a 13yo. Arghhh!
4. Growing our own veggies (vendetta out on the slugs!!)
5. Getting up at 5.50 to wake my Ds for his paper round. (Wipes the sleep from her eyes)
6. Being "Green!"
7. My Robin family I'm feeding.
8. My MS.
9. Brass Bands
   
   

Well, thats quite enough things for the moment! I'm sure I should be doing more, but the old senile decay prevents me remembering!

1. I am always knitting, and always have a project in my bag in case I have a spare moment to do some! I am suppposed to be knitting a 2x2 rib vest for my 17yo, and I do try to do some each day, but its soooo boring, and its about 150st across, so doing just one row needs more than a moment! Here is a pic of the back so far. Its in a dark blue, so prob won't show the pattern well, but here goes!

Well, that shows up better than I thought. It is a really dark blue in real life though, and I didn't use a flash, so I don't know why it looks so pale here! Its on size 4mm bamboo circs. This is all I've done after having it on the pins for about a month! He is over 6' tall, so it has to be quite long. (as if that makes up for me not doing more of the blasted thing!!) If there ever has been a project I have regretted starting, its this one! I designed it myself, so I have no-one else to blame! It is supposed to be like one a Final Fantasy character wears, so I did have a grainy pic to work from! Ds is pleased with it though, which is something I suppose, (as he is never pleased with anything, the miserable old.......) but he does give me grief if he catches me knitting anything else! lol! "How much of my thing have you done today???" lol!

I am also doing a cloth with a bowling ball and 3 pins on, as a prize for the bowling party I am trying to organise (see "3") R doesn't object to much to me doing this, because it has to be finished by a certain date, but he still comments on his project, and wether I've done any today!

2. Not much to say on this one at the mo. I am trying to finish sewing my simple bonnet, but as I'm virtually making it up I go along, there is a lot of seam ripping going on! I have several pics to go from, but I am trying to do something that fits me well, as have a huge head!

It is near-on impossible to get suitable coverings here in the UK, so I have had to order a straw-brimmed summer bonnet from http://www.prayercoverings.com/ in the US. (Tempting fate that we won't get any sun now I've ordered it!) I'm hoping that as its designed to have a bun underneath it, it will be big enough for me!

3. My 10yo, J wants a bowling party, with tea at MacDonalds, and I'm hoping I can convince Ds C that his friends would like that too! More later!

4. The blasted slugs have got into my mini greenhouse, and munched all my lettuces! DH went yesterday to get some repellant, but came home with one that isn't suitable for having pets around it. (Even though he specifically said this was what was needed!) So we have to get a different one. The sunflowers are doing well, but from last year's experience, the slugs love them too, so as soon as they come out of their potsinto the ground, they'll need protecting too! I'm going to search to see if there is a natual repellant I can use, as I like to try to be as green as possible. More on my search later.

I'll take a pic of the plants later, so we can see if there is any progress!

5. Ds R has just got a job doing a paper round, and today was his first day without his person to show him where to go. He was really nervous, convinced he would forget where all the roads were, but I tried to reassure him. If 13 yo's can do it, I'm sure a 17 yo can too!

He just came back, and thinks he's made a mistake! There were 2 roads with the same 1st name, but different ending, and he asked a lady which road he was in, and she said one of them, so he asked what road the house over there was in, and it was the other road! Confusing eh?

I have said I will get him up for a while, as he thinks he will fall back asleep to his alarm, and after only 2 days I'm regretting it! I'm hoping that after a few days he will wake himself, and Iwon't have to do it!

6. My composter came the other day, and I've sited it on a bit of ground we haven't planted. I had quite a lot of stuff in the council box for composting, so I've transfered it to mine. Why should they benefit from my greens? I have lots of nettle cuttings to add, but there is so much of it, I'm just putting a bit in each time I empty out the kitchen waste box, so there is an even mix. I have told DH C that he has to fork it once a week to aereate it. He puts up with my Green endeavours, but I have caught him throwing stuff away that should be sorted! More training I think! lol!

7. I think the Robins have fledged, as I have seen the dad feed them on the tree near by. They certainly have worked him hard! He starts getting worms from my window feeder as soon as its dawn, and yesterday he was still getting worms at past 9pm! I am hoping that he will have another family, as he has fledged this 1st lot so early. he will probably need a rest though!

8. My back pain is not helped by getting up so early for R, having to get upstairs to wake him! (I sleep in a downstairs room so I don't have to do the stairs so much) I also went out shopping with DH yesterday, and that always makes me rough the next day. I was so tird by the time we got to Tescos I nearly had to use their wheelchair, but I forced myself to go on! I have only been in respite from the wheelchair for a couple of months, so I don't want to have to use one unless its really necessary. My stubbornness probably makes me worse the next day, but its hard to give in to his beastly disease!

I have a mini kettle by my bed for the bad days, and a glass of milk, so I can have a cup of tea whenever I want one, with out disturbing anyone else. Can't do without a cuppa!

9. DH C is out tonight at one of his brass bands. he officially plays for Milton Keynes Brass, but helps out at several others to keep his practising up! We are planning the trip to Pontins in Prestatyn at the moment, for a competition, deciding if we can afford to have a chalet by ourselves, or if we'll have to share. The difficulty with sharing is my sleep patterns. When my body says I have to sleep, there is no options! This may be difficult if there are other people in with us, and I have to make sure I am well enough for the competition!

Getting tired now, so signing off. Maybe write some more later if I get time! bye x