My first ever Mirabilia finish. Easter Fairy – one of the limited edition kits. It’s stitched on Sparkling Fairytale fabric by Sparklies. I really enjoy stitching this, and I’m looking forward to doing the others in the series. (Click on the picture for a bigger image).

<a href="http://newtus.co.uk/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=completed_designs&id=Easter_Fairy" target="_blank"

I’m going to try not to go on too much on here, but just a quick update.

I’m still tightening, but as they’re not painful, even though they can be very regular, we’re not too bothered at the moment.

I’ve had a GTT (glucose tolerance test) and failed – but I only have impaired glucose tolerance at the moment, so I don’t need insulin.  Just need to check my blood sugars regularly and stop eating creme eggs!  So far they’ve all been perfectly normal, so that’s good.  But the baby is already on the 90th centile for me (partly because I’m so short), so the consultant isn’t keen to let me go overdue.  So it looks like the Newtlet will arrive in the first half of May.  Exciting, but scary stuff.  I’m really, really hoping that I manage to go into labour myself rather than being induced, but I’m kind of resigned to whatever intervention might be necessary now.

The plaster in the nursery should now be dry, so we need to paint it with some white paint as an undercoat.  The joiner is coming to fit the skirting board on Tuesday, so thus far, everything is on schedule.  Oh, and my nappies arrived today – strange how excited you can get about terry squares!  And it’s made me realise that I need a new washing line post in the garden – which means DIY and mixing concrete for the Newt.  Not sure how that will go, but we’ll give it a bash.  I’ve stuck a DIY book on my Amazon wishlist, because now we can’t just call my dad to do it for us, I think we’ll need all the help we can get.  Still, how hard can it be…..

I’ve decided (probably against my better judgement) to have another go at kntting socks. You see, I just love all the different patterned sock wool out there, and yet I haven’t really managed to find too many non-sock patterns that I like. There’s only so many scarves you need, and I had a go at one of the baby cardigans, but it was growing so quickly, I got fed up.

So. I’m having a go at ankle socks. That way, if my tension is way off, I haven’t wasted too much time and effort. I’m also having another go at short row heels, because I really don’t like the way flappy heels look. I did actually manage OK with these last time I tried – my knit side was better than my purl side, but I’m sure that will improve with practice.

Unfortunately I’ve managed to cast on 3 times and made a mess of things so far. So I’ll have another go after lunch when I’m a bit more with it, and see what happens. I’d love to take a photo of my new sock wool, but we’re having issues with the digital camera – I think we’ve broken the batteries by overcharging them!

We had my dad’s funeral yesterday, and it went as well as these things can be expected to do. The service generated some laughter as well as sadness as the vicar told some funny stories about my dad.

We then retired to the pub, which I’m sure my dad would have approved of, and much beer was drunk by all (except me of course!) – again, dad would have heartily approved. Mum and I got chance to catch up with friends and family, and everyone shared memories of my dad. We had a picture board up with photos of my dad aged from about 4 to the present day – so they brought back some memories, and again got a few laughs – especially my dad dressed as Andy Pandy for a fancy dress party.

So, now we have some finality and closure, and all that remains is for us to work out how we get on with our lives from this point on.

I was working nights over the weekend, but was woken early at Sunday lunchtime by Newt with the news that my dad was in hospital after a major heart attack. We rushed down there to be with my mum, dad was already in resus when we arrived, and died about 15 minutes later. Apparently he’d had a first heart attack about 11am, but then had one or two more whilst in hospital, they were very major events, and there was nothing more we could do. To say that it’s a shock is an understatement. The day before, he was helping Newt with some decorating in the new nursery, then they went to the pub. No signs of anything being wrong at all.

I’m going to miss him tremendously – I think we were quite similar, and I get my paranoid, anxious, ‘can’t eat Weetabix in odd numbers’ tendencies from him. But along with that I hope that I have some of his sense of humour, general good naturedness (except when it comes to bad driving and parking), generosity and loyalty. I can’t quite believe that I can’t talk to him anymore about last night’s Top Gear programme, or the amazing try someone scored in the rugby match; or that we won’t be arguing over the mega crossword puzzle at Christmas. I can’t tease him about his glasses any more, and he can’t make fun of my bug phobia or how soft I am over the cats. I just hope he’s somewhere with my Grandparents and my Uncle, and that they’re all in one of the John Willie Lees pubs that must exist in heaven, and I hope that they’ll look down on us when the baby’s born, and enjoy a pint together to wet its head.

I can’t believe that he’s gone, I can’t express how much I love him, or how much I’ll miss him every single day.

On the whole, I think we’re all doing as well as can be expected. We’re getting on with all the necessary arrangements, and slowly beginning to come to terms with it (I think). I’m obviously gutted in every respect, but what upsets me most at the moment is that he won’t get to see the baby. Of all my family and friends, he was actually the most excited about the whole thing! It’s difficult to comprehend at this stage how much our life, and more so my mum’s life will change. But we’re doing things on a day by day basis at the moment, and trying not to dwell on stuff too much, and at the moment, that seems to be working OK.

Then to add insult to injury, and I’m sure because of the shock, upset, lack of sleep etc, I ended up on Labour Ward in the early hours of Monday morning with some tightenings. I ignored them for about 4 hours, but then I decided that they really weren’t settling, and even though they weren’t painful, they were definitely there, and they were about 5 minutes apart, and I’m only 30 weeks. So off to labour ward we went. Various monitorings, injections and exams later they started to settle – lasted about 8 hours in total probably before they started to calm down. So we finally went home. Fortunately everything seems to have stayed pretty settled, so I’m even more sure that it was just because of all the stress. All the doctors and midwives were really, really lovely – but I still hope I don’t have to see them again for a good few weeks!