Spring pleasures and searching

- I think I've benefited from being away last week (as well as reaching the end of the course) and the lighter nights. I've felt much more cheerful so far this week. I do enjoy the spring.

- We had our evening meal in the summer house. It was good to sit (almost) outside enjoying some bread, ham and cheese, with some wine, and watching the sun go down.

- I've cast on for a test piece to make a Clapotis scarf. It's not the rights colour but it's probably the right kind if yarn (merino dk). If it still feels soft and lovely then I'll probably buy some darkish blue for the real thing.

Spring growth, opportunities and a pleasant evening

1. More beautiful weather with an early summer/spring burst. The flowers are starting to show their colours and there are so many birds in the back yard. I saw a blackbird yesterday, as well as the usual bedlam of sparrows, which was a nice surprise.

2. I enjoyed being able to tell a young applicant that he's been successful for the maternity cover in my team. Not so much fun telling the other lad he hadn't got it, but at least I can give him a 2 month extension to his current contract. Hopefully they'll both be able to make something of the opportunity.

3. Last Pilates session before Easter so she worked us hard. Lovely to relax with friends afterwards though, and to knit as we talked. One slipper is almost complete :-)

More small steps, and some progress

1. The oil-drum is empty and back with our neighbour. I was amazed how quickly we could get through the garden rubbish, and we saved a few hours of shredding too.
2. I've finally put some wallpaper in the corner of our bedroom. Hopefully once it's painted it will blend in ok.
3. The moebius cowl is finished! It's turned out to be quite a good length and I'm pleased with how it looks. I don't think it can be blocked though... too tricky for a twisted loop.

Satisfying weekend

Thursday:
- I returned home from Sweden to 2 transformed gardens. A's dad has worked hard during the week (thankfully he seems to enjoy it!) and has: tidied the front garden, painted the gate, cut the grass in both gardens, cleared the triffid taking over the summer house, and dismantled the remains of the gazebo.

Friday:

- I took the day off after my travels, but caught up a bit on emails during the morning to make Monday easier.

- My in-laws came back to finish getting burning the rotten wood from the back garden. He also put a make-shift fence up to keep next door's dogs in their own garden.
- I went for a walk with a friend and her baby. I'm pleased that he's getting to be a bit less demanding so that she's got some more flexibility in her routines.

Saturday:

- haircut, then we popped into town for a short while. I had a very enjoyable time looking for yarn to make myself a wrap to wear to 2 family weddings this year. I've not bought anything yet, but I'm feeling a wee bit inspired.

- we had a lovely time at a party to celebrate our friends' 50th birthdays. A barbecue in the dark in March - very tasty - followed by a fab banoffee pie

Sunday:
- A beautiful sunny day so we drove to church and back with the top down; it was a bit chilly on the way there but glorious on the way home. What a treat!
- We finished burning the rubbish from the back garden - I smell of bonfire now...

- We watched our first F1 race of the year. I'm not sorry we weren't up early to watch the 50 min rain delay, and maybe the extended highlights will work out well; I didn't feel I'd missed much anyway.

- A helped me wash the car. It was absolutely filthy after a winter's driving and it's still not totally clean, but what an improvement.
- I enjoyed being outdoors and getting stuff done.

My knitting's coming on a bit too:
- I cast on for a pair of slippers for Andrew
- The moebius cowl is close to being finished; only about 3 rows left now (never mind that they're each 400 stitches...) It's been getting quite unwieldy to work with so I'm glad it's almost done.

HIMP 4, day 3

There's still a half day to go, but the course is basically finished now. Our presentation had to change at the last minute because it overlapped too much with the first group's but it went very well. We got some laughs while still making a serious point, and it was good that we went last - I don't think anyone would have wanted to follow us...

I went for a walk with a couple of others before dinner and saw a lovely sunset.

We finished the day with the course dinner and gave each other our diplomas. Bo was very nice in his description of me - apparently I'm very calm :-)

A last highlight was a crowd of us sitting in the lounge singing along to Tommy playing guitar (whether we knew the words or not). Good fun.

HIMP 4, day 2

1. Today's topic was rhetoric, or the art of persuasion. It's been interesting to analyse a couple of key speeches and understand how they were put together - the trick will be to remember this in a few months.

2. I managed to go for a short run outside (about 5 minutes) before dinner. I ran further than I expected, and very much enjoyed the fresh air.

3. Our group's presentation has come together well. It's very different to how we first planned it, but it feels good now.

HIMP 4, day 1

Week 4 of the management training...
- leading your self: understanding ourselves so that we can be better leaders (I think!)
- "making a life while making a living"
- it's been nice to catch up with the others on the course
- I'm very pleased that the aerobics class is back in the programme
- and I got back to my room to find the cleaner had looked after Bob the bear