Tickets had been pinned to our noticeboard for many months and then hey presto Monday came and it was the day of our sailing on The Waverley Paddle Steamer. The Waverley is the world’s last sea going paddle steamer, and you can find out more by clicking the link, but I can certainly tell you that this ship provided a wonderfully smooth and quiet ride. I was fascinated to be able to see the engineering in action below the deck we were sitting on, and to see the three massive cranks working. There’s a really cool video of it on Wikipedia that I was hoping to embed here, but it’s not behaving, but if you follow the Wikipedia link and scroll down to engine you’ll find the video there..
The main picture for today’s post is my view of Llandudno pier and the Grand Hotel with the Great Orme rising to the right, taken from the boat as we were about to go around the Orme.
You never know what the weather will be like when you book things like boat trips (or when Sue books them for us to enjoy!), but I was delighted by the cool sea breeze on such a warm day at the start of a very hot week – even though I ended up with a rather pink nose! And yes I took some knitting with me. The smallest size of Spring Breeze Hat still needed to knitted up before the North East Wool Show in early August (I get the rights to this pattern back at the end of July) and this seemed like the ideal small project to have with me whilst queueing and for some of the ride. As I was mostly working on the brim it meant that I could easily knit and still look at the view! As you can see it was quite breezy out on the water – my hair was blowing around everywhere!
The view and the experience of the journey to Colwyn Bay and then back around The Great Orme didn’t give me much time for knitting, but as you know I like to have it with me for all those moments when I need something to occupy my mind and fingers. Knitting whilst queuing is highly recommended – I get far less stressed about the wait when I’ve got my ‘socially acceptable fidgeting’ with me and I end up with knitted goodies at the end of it! I added the first repeat of the lace pattern once we got home and it’s looking good already.
In other knitting news, yesterday morning I took a stroll to the post office with the newly completed design which I can’t yet share with you. Sadly the box was about 2″ / 5cm too long to fit in the ‘small parcel’ category, but I will know better for next time and buy my posting box further ahead and from somewhere with a greater choice of size options! There were only two boxes in our Spar / post office when I bought this one and the other would have been far too small.
A lot of time and attention today will be on staying cool during my other jobs of invigilating exams and teaching piano. It’s definitely a scorcher and any gardening or walking will be done at the very coolest ends of the days this week. I’m hoping we’ll be able to pull some rhubarb as some of the new plants are going great guns (in amongst some oriental poppies and borage that is almost as tall as I am)!
It’s a short one today (I blame the heat!), so I’ll be back to tell you more about the progress I’m making on my short Leaf & Vine cardigan next week – you never know, I might even have finished the back by then! Until then, take care and stay hydrated. K x