There was a slight amount of snow in the air this morning, but certainly nothing to write home to Scarborough about (it looks like they’ll be getting quite a bit of the stuff over the next few days!). Tilly was a little bit reluctant to venture out, but in the end the lure of the tree and mole hills were too much for her and she braved the cold.

We are definitely in waiting mode. Waiting for the beast to arrive. It feels like we’ve been waiting for ages already. Last week we both silently wondered if stopping at The Shady Oak for a night was a good idea, but so far the water around our hull has remained liquid. Maybe it’s because the embankment keeps getting a good amount of sunshine in the day which is keeping the water too warm to freeze, I suspect this will be short lived. Today there have been lots of passing boats, about half shareboats making the most of their winter week, hoping to be able to keep moving and return to base.

In water saving mode, Mick carried a large bag of washing over to the launderette this morning. One big machine took all our clothes and all was returned dry in just over an hour. That didn’t fill the day!

I spent the morning putting together a family invite for Mick’s next big birthday in May. It’s funny how he’ll legitimately be eligible for some Senior discounts, but the things he’s chosen to do for his celebration don’t do old fogey discounts. It was nice to be thinking of warmer times for a while.

The afternoon saw me finish off a sock that I’ve been working on for a while. I’ve now tried several patterns, some top down, some toe up. They all have had various things that I’ve liked about them, but other things that didn’t feel so good once on your foot. So I’ve been working on a hybrid pattern and yesterday I’d found a handy calculator to help with gusset and heel calculations. Now written out as one pattern I’ll hopefully manage to knit a matching sock for a pair! Soon I’ll have enough items to open my own etsy shop and hopefully sell enough to keep us in wine. Fingers crossed.