nerves of steel........

................that's what you need to have if you watch Amelie play......in today's match against Anabel Medina Gerigas Amelie won, in straight sets, but was 5-1 up in the first set before ending up winning it in a tiebreak.

Just lovely to see her again, and even better winning :)

I wonder if my 'sock vibes' helped....... ? You never know...... :)

Thanks to everyone who sent me such lovely compliments on the socks: very much appreciated!

socks for Amelie

at last.....pictures of the socks I made as a tribute/homage to my shero Amelie Mauresmo......they have been finished for a little while but I've only just managed to get pictures of them; I'd hoped to get better pictures, but these are better than nothing. I loved making them, and the colour is a graded shaded corally peachy shade......the nearest I could get to match the colour of the outfit she wore during the season when she won Wimbledon......

Here they are:



I took quite a few pictures but these two were the only ones which showed the shading clearly....on my feet :)

The pictures of just the sock(minus foot) showed the knitting quite well, but I'm glad just to have managed something.

The wool(yarn) was Trekking, have mislaid the ball band but the shade was something like 151; done on two circulars - I began on dpns and changed to two circs as I learned that method on another project and took to it like the proverbial duck to water. Size 2.75.

The fit me beautifully, and feel very comfortable.

In fact this is the very first PAIR I have ever completed, so I'm quite pleased with myself.

I've read that Amelie is feeling quite down at the moment, having lost in the Doha tournament mid-week, and I hope that in some way sending out 'sock vibes' might help a little.......sounds daft, but you never know. I made them with love and admiration, and sending feelings like that out can only be good.

(I also took pictures of some other things I have on the go but the pictures of everything else didn't turn out.......temperamental camera.......)

remember "Chariots of Fire"?

I wonder what Eric Liddell(a Scot born in China) would have thought of the ban on UK athletes speaking out about the human rights situation in China......and the abuse of animals(for example - stray and pet dogs being shot, in front of the people), which is mentioned less often.......

I wonder what he would have thought about those athletes agreeing not to speak out.........

I wish that even just ONE 'big name', or any of them, would stand up and be counted, and speak out.......

what's that? London hosting the Olympics in 2012?

Hmmmmm......surely that has nothing to do with it.......yeah, right.......

for an excellent blog entry on this, see:
http://womenwhoserve.blogspot.com/2008/02/henins-point-of-view-is-not-mine-either.html


a couple of links about Eric Liddell below, which may be of interest.....

http://www.rampantscotland.com/famous/blfamliddell.htm

http://www.eric-liddell.org/

a list of things which helped today, in no particular order

Frank Sinatra

a Cadbury's cream egg

Stargate, especially Colonel Carter in a very fetching outfit

knitting

sorting my knitting needles

temporarily putting away some things I find too upsetting to do right now

pizza

finishing a tub of Mackie's organic ice cream straight from the tub

Amelie Mauresmo winning her match today

thinking about playing some music(on an instrument)

Joan Armatrading's voice

feeling some angora wool

remembering Lily with the red hair

allowing myself to feel the way I feel

a big fat paperback in the mail - "She Bop: definitive history of women in rock pop and soul"

that's about all I can think of, but it's not bad........

a small moment of clarity from Star Trek

just came to mind.....something Seven of Nine said on several occasions......"You will adapt".......

that helped.....

Hard Time on Planet Earth

years ago I remember a tv programme called that......and it sums up how I am right now. I'm writing this to try to help myself a little, to stop myself from feeling guilty about feeling like this.......

I've never had such a low, bad, dark bout of depression. It's like being on the edge of a black hole, being slowly sucked in. It's frightening.

So, last night I decided to call my doctor and try to get to see someone. I did, they fitted me in this morning, and hopefully this is the beginning of some help.

Crying all the time, crying down the phone, crying in the doctor's office, crying in the street as I walked home, and I didn't give a rat's ass what anyone thought.

Sitting peeling layers of skin from my feet - drawing blood; trying to give myself physical pain to take the edge off the emotional and mental pain.

What a mess.

Thank you, Lou......

angels come in many forms. I know I've met one in Lou.......

Here are pictures of the beautiful Rainbow Memorial Blanket which she has made already, in memory of my wee Rainbow; it's going to the Cats' Protection League.

Lou, I can't thank you enough: I just don't have the words.

((((((((((((((((((((((((((Lou)))))))))))))))))))))))))