What I made, by Sharon

 We just got back from Sri Lanka, and what an amazing trip it was. We started with an Intrepid tour - they have an 'active' option, so as well as doing cultural things we hiked and camped and bicycled and kayaked.  It was a great group of people, and a really fun way to do the things that can be a bit tricky to organise, like camping in the Knuckles National Park. The bicycling was through tea fields, and I was glad to have a guide on Sri Lankas crazy roads, but it was really fun and such a pleasure to be riding for something other than commuting. After the tour was over we went to Tangelle beach and spent four nights staying in a tree house - which was essentially a floor and a roof and a bed with mosquito nets. Our first night there there was a massive thunderstorm right on top of us, which was terrifying. Other than that it was very relaxing, we did some more kayaking and went to a temple. Mainly we ate, drank, swam and I took lots of photos of palm trees. Then we headed to...

I've known for a while that I want to knit  the Blanko j umper while I'm on holiday in Sri Lanka. I didn't want to start it too long before we leave, so I've been knitting bits and pieces for the last ten days. Interestingly (to me at least) two of the things I've knit were in my queue for a very long time (since 2023!). I made a couple of charity baby jumpers: It's such a great way to use up left-overs. These are going to Papua New Guinea. I knit a pair of Lazy Daisy socks that had spent a long time in the  queue: They are not my best effort, the fit is somewhat odd, even though it should be a reasonably standard sock: They are comfortable, and quite pretty and I used yarn from 2023, which is always fun. Second oldest yarn in my stash! Then, and finally, I made Leon a birthday toy, or, as my colleague Jo exclaimed when she saw me working on it at lunch "a creature! Is that a creature?" Yes. It's meant to be an armadillo, but it doesn't really...

 I think I've got everything ready for our Sri Lanka trip. We're leaving on Friday morning. My bags are packed and most importantly I've got the relevant books loaded up on my reading device. I've started  The Hungry Ghosts  by Shyam Selvadurai  . Then I've got  The Seasons of Trouble by Rohini Mohan . I even found an audio book already on my app that has somethignt o do with Sri Lanka, although it is set in Sydney -   Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran.   All that said a lot of books set in Sri Lanka are fairly depressing - very focussed on the civil war and it's effects. I have yet to find a Sri Lankan rom-com. So, if it all gets a bit much I'll return to listening to  The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros,   a fairly harmless romance, and pick something cheerful off the mainly books that are hanging around on my reading device. I adore being able to carry as many books as I could possibly want on holidays ...

I finished spinning some yarn in February  and I got it on the needles within to months! I think the only thing more delightful than  spinning a project and knitting it up right away might be doing that, and having it come out this well: I love this yarn and I love the resulting shawl. I'm also quite surprised I got a shawl this big out of about 370 meters of yarn. Please also note the personalised Richmond Knitters t-shirt, courtesy of Sonia's artwork and StickerMule 's deal on t-shirts. I'm not sure I should have been let loose on that website. Stay tuned for more spinning, knitting and personalised things ordered from the internet! 

 Last week I said I was in the mood for a romance and my next NetGalley review book was a romance, how convenient. I read and enjoyed   A Lady's Guide to London by Faye Delacour . Part way through I realised that I had picked the second next book to read, so when I finished it I started   Roadside Sisters by Catherine Matthews.   Family drama, one of my favourite genres. There's got to be healing rifts. So I'm reading along, enjoying this when I realise that the book I should be reviewing at the beginning of April is actually  Unclaimed Baggage by Katie O'Rourke . So that's what I'm reading next. It's been a bit of a mess, but all the books are good and once I've read these, I have nothing in the queue until June, which means I can get on with reading books set in Sri Lanka. I'm still listening to Sri Lanka books  -  A Passage North   and    The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida . A Passage North seems to have become stuck on a bor...

We hosted my parents for Friday night dinner. Then on Saturday morning we ran an easy 90 minutes and went to the Melbourne Convention Centre (more often called Jeff's Shed) for the 2025 GABS festival. This usually happens at the end of Good Beer Week and at a rather more sunny venue. Anyway, we had a lot of friends come along, and it was a lovely time. Photos taken by my lovely friends who remember to take photos and are kind enough to share them! After that Leon and I went to see Jude Purl's comedy festival show. We were home by 7pm, out of energy and sitting on the couch. Sunday we got an extra hour of sleep, since daylight savings has started (or finished? I think started). It means it's light when I get up in the mornings, but dark earlier in the evening. Swings and roundabouts.  After cleaning the house we went to the Polly Woodside when Leon and Elise's choir was performing. They did sea shanties this season, and it was a whole lot of fun. I cast on a   French Mac...