I take back what I said in my last post, about the caffeine being the reason I feel so rough. I don't think it helped (there's nothing like giving your body a culture shock to prepare it for the latest virus) but what I have, what we have, is something nastier.

Tom was the first to have swollen glands, but as is usual for him, suffered few other ill effects. Aran's throat glands came up, and apart from the occasional whinge and a bit of a head cold, he's coping well. On the other hand, as expected, I have full body aches and a mild fever to go with my swollen glands. It's not mumps; both myself and Tom had it as kids and Aran has had his MMR. It could be tonsillitis or it could be a nasty flu bug, we don't know yet. It's not nice, that much I can tell you.

We were trying to organise the next photo shoot for Twisted Woolly Toppers for today, but in the end I conceded that it wouldn't be fair on anyone, especially as there's still snow on the ground, so we're planning for next weekend now. To top it all, it's started blizzarding again today, just as last flurry of snow is starting to melt.

Working on the book layout is proving tricky whilst ill, so to keep my hands busy, I've cast-on for a new design - something easy to memorise and pleasant to knit.

I'm not 100% sure what I'll do with it, but it's likely to be submitted. Did you notice my new fancy stitch markers? They're just arrived, and already I love them! Purchased from rycrafty, they are perfect for so many reasons.. they don't snag at all and as they are mini chains, they can be linked together or through your knitting, suiting just about every purpose I can think of. The choice of colours make for handy indicators, and you can buy a mix or single colour packs. On the downside, some folk might find them a little chunky on the needles compared to the standard wire loop, but I haven't noticed any problems with the tension of my knitting at all.

In other news, we've been messing around with the settings on my (our?) camera. We both admit we don't know the camera as well as we should, and it's been fun playing. These are some of Tom's shots:

To answer some questions on my last post, about the sculptures here on the Yard. The ones in that post are joint projects, made by people who have, or still do, lived here. Those ones are years old; metal ages well, as it changes colour with the elements and takes on a new personality.The giant man, the skeleton, is huge, and was joint effort by about 4 or 5 people, one of whom I believe was Sheila.

There are lots of individual sculptures here too, mostly displayed by their makers plots. When my dad & step mum came over in May, they commented that it was like walking into an art gallery or museum, with so many works of art mingled amongst everyone's homes! It certainly is an inspiring place to stay.