Been and back again

I have barely had time to breath lately let alone blog :o(

In knitting news: The Sassy Stripes toe-ups are waiting for a heel and i am waiting for a calm few hours to do the short-row heel in! Not long to go now though until they are finished. I really haven't enjoyed knitting them :o(
I should start thinking about my next pair now really, i am liking the SweetPea pattern from Knitty and have some pretty pastelly sock wool that would look nice with a bit of lace.
I also have some Sirdar Town & Country sock wool that i got in the sale at £1.50 a ball, it's being discontinued which is a shame but i hope they will bring out something to replace it. I picked up two black, two grey, one red mix and one grey mix with the intention of doingheels and toes in a solid and the foot and cuff in the patterned and having the rest of the solids as spares for using up leftovers in future.
The Clapotis is coming along nicely, i am still increasing and have 66 stitches at the moment, only another 51 to go :oD
MS3 is on clue 2 with clue 3 out tomorrow and i have yet to start mine! I want to, i really do but for some reason i am scared to! I also need some quiet time to do it in and that's not happening!

On Sunday we went down to Brighton to watcht he "Paddle round the Pier" event and to have chips on the seafront. It was a lovely day, the weather stayed dry and it was hothothot! Luckily there was a man giving out free bottles of sun block but even after two applications of factor 15 (i probably should have used more and applied it more often *oops*) i still have a little bit of sunburn on my arms and one side of my neck.
On Monday i went back to Southend. Mum's friend is getting married in August and Mum is making the wedding dress and two bridesmaid dresses, she also said she would do the flowers and make the cakes! After some delegation, i was put in charge of the flowers and Bloke's Mum was offered the chance to make the cakes which she reluctantly agreed to do. You know what it's like, everyone else likes your offerings but you don't and Ivy is just like that. She will make a cake three times over if she doesn't think it's good enough and was unsure that she would be able to pull it off but i think it'll be fine! *crosses fingers and toes*
So, Monday i was going to do the flowers but we couldn't find the tape so it meant a trip to the shops. This had to include a trip to the LYS as they have a half price sale on Rowan yarns and patterns. I picked up some Felted Tweed, one ball each in rust, purple and teal (i think, it might be green) as i wanted to make some Knucks at some point and £2.38 a ball is great value :oD
Then it was a mad dash round several florists trying to find tape. Nobody had any! Bizarre! Just as bizarre is the fact that there are three shops selling Crocs and yet none of them have any plans to stock Georgies! Madness!! *lol* We managed to get some tape after a flash of inspiration from me, and also some nice wide leaves to edge the Bride's bouquet so that was gooooooooooood :o) Mum went off to WW and i went home to play with the flowers. You know that thing i mentioned, where you don't like you own work? I hate the flowers, i think they look tatty and amateurish but Mum and Jackie both liked what i had done so far when Jackie came round for her dress fitting so i guess that it'll be fine *crosses fingers and knocks on wood* ;o)
I'll try and remember to take pictures when i am down there next week.
News on Mum... she definitely has a tumour on her left kidney, she goes in next week for a retrograde pyleography and then we think it'll be the 6th August for the op to remove the kidney. We are hoping it hasn't had time to spread to the bladder or anywhere else. We are also hoping that this is an isolated cancer and not a secondary tumour.

I am trying to remain optimistic, i am also trying to deal with it.

I'm failing on both counts.