Inchies

I've been a bit of a slack blogger of late again. I'm not quite sure why but time seems to have picked up pace this month and got away from me.
I had a little experiment last Wednesday and tested out the matinee that is on most Wednesday afternoons at my local theatre. I saw Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr and once I'd got over the awkwardness of being the youngest person there by about 20 years I really enjoyed it. I got myself settled down with my 50p hot chocolate and bag of sweeties and whiled away a couple of hours in the company of Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law. Not a bad way to spend the day and tickets cost a bargain price of £4! I think I can safely say that experiment was a success.
I've also been doing a bit of shopping round my local charity shops and had a real bargain fest. For about £20 I picked myself up a mid length, black, velvet coat, a grey fleece hoody, a little, short, brown dress, a cool, bright green, bag for work, a bronze, sparkly cardie and a bathroom set of smellies which were unopened. It was a good days bargain hunting. Unfortunately its not that good all the time but thats largely why you have to get things when you see them.
On the crafting front I've been getting into making inchies. I can't remember if I've described these before but they are basically inch square scraps of fabric decorated with beads and embellishments. I've been making them for a swap and they are on the theme of spring. I've loved doing them and once I finally get round to sending these off I think I'll make some for myself.
Finally, on the spodding front, I have been thoroughly addicted to the latest GTA game (Chinatown Wars) and have been totally engrossed. For the first time ever in a GTA game I've actually finished all of the missions! \o/ I've just got a few odds and sods to do and I'll have totally completed it. Once again its been yet another reason why my DS was such a great buy.
I'm hoping all the snow has come to an end as I must get myself down our allotment. My boyfriend went down last week to empty our compost bin of kitchen scraps and its apparently looking good. I've also bought some Nasturtium seeds today. I'm hoping to put them in the trough on the balcony and down the plot. I know they will probably go wild but they have such pretty flowers.

February

I lost track of time for a bit then so haven't posted anything for about two weeks. Oooops.
Not much has been going on the last couple of weeks. I finished reading How to be Idle. That was a good read and I enjoyed it. It was probably because it was quite good for the soul to read something that says doing nothing is good and that actually promotes guilt-free time off. I would definitely recommend it, not just to workaholics but to anyone that struggles to sit still and relax. Some of it I found a bit idealistic and not entirely practical but I liked the fact that he he acknowledges that. I would also whole heartedly agree with the concept that work costs money and cutting down on work doesn't mean you'll necessarily be giving up on your quality of life. I cut down to 30 hours a week last April and it was one of the best things I did :)
I've started reading A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian and so far I'm really enjoying this. It reminds me a little of A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon. It has a similar wit to it.
I've taken up another craft swap on CO&K, I am making 12 Inchies to send out. I'd never heard of Inchies until a week ago but basically, from what I can gather, they are inch squared pieces of fabric which you decorate through stitching and using buttons, beads, anything else. I've got a couple on the go at the moment. The theme of them is 'springtime'.
I also finally sent of the Sweet/Candy Swap to Kira in the US and have recieved hers. It was packed full of yummy sweeties from the US including Reeces Cups, which I love :P.
Finally I got to have a trip out to the Hare Krishna Temple, just outside of Watford on Friday and had a really nice time. The grounds were so peaceful and must look amazing when everything is flowering. We also got a brief tour of the temple and saw people making up the flower garlands which get put on the idols first thing in the morning (apparently 4.30am) and we saw prayer time. I also brought some snacks from the shop and we were given some yummy sweets when we left. Although I'm not religious there were a few things that really struck me about the temple and their philosophy. Firstly they seem to take the view that everyone has value and something to contribute no matter what their age, disability, background, etc and rather than just say it we actually saw it in practice. Also everyone seemed so at peace and friendly.