My local yarn shop, Yarn Over.

At the end of this month my local yarn shop will close its doors and the business will then sell only online. Like a lot of local businesses,Yarn Over was never 'just a shop'. Both the present owner and the former owner always encouraged people to come to social gatherings based on a common love/interest in knitting and crocheting. Many groups would meet during each month and of course there were classes that people could attend. 

The knitting group I belong to, K4BN would conduct their monthly Knit and Natter at the store and member's purchases always attracted a 10% discount. And all customers could use loyalty cards to collect points for purchases and trade them in. And of course there was the staff...always helpful and friendly and ready to put the 'kettle on' for when regular customers dropped by...we could browse the shelves while we sipped or lounge on the sofas! 

Today was therefore the last Knit and Natter at Yarn Over for K4BN...and as usual we had fun...

There were generous discounts on stock...even a free giveaway basket to rummage through...our usual coffee/tea/ food goodies...but it was all tinged with a bit of sadness.

(All of us who attended were able to set up our User ID and password for the new website during the morning as well)

Bad Girl...?? Lol!

I don't really bother with making New Year's resolutions, although I sometimes 'toy' with changing some habits. But I'm never 'resolute'/set in stone about these...just deliberately vague aspirations that I think about. And so it was late in 2013, that I thought that maybe I had quite a largish stash of fabric and perhaps I should try to use a lot of it up in 2014 instead of buying more. The same went for the yarns' stash and sewing project patterns and kits. Use them up! So not buying new 'stuff' was sort of the plan...

Ahem...cough cough...3 balls of Red Heart SuperSaver in Royal Blue that I had ordered last year, arrived at Yarn Over last week, ready for me to pick up...

And in the mail this week...from that little shop at Maleny...

A little something for my 'Sewing themed' fabric collection...

And also in the mail this week; ordered online late December 2013 from a lovely little shop called Whatever, Where-ever...getting organised for Christmases in the future!

Pattern beautifully wrapped and tied with a bow by Helen who owns Whatever, Where-ever

By the way, Helen has a sale on at her store at the moment...she sent me an email to let me know...I'm not saying anything else! lol

Another unexpected outing...

For a few years I've been whinging complaining querying my dentist about the occasional ache in my gum where I have a small crown. Each time, Tony dutifully probes with those hideous pointed tools, x- rays the offending area, and has always pronounced that there were no problems with the crown. And the pain would disappear on its own any way!

Well after I left hospital last week, this tooth has started playing up, making it difficult to eat even. This started last Saturday...but it was only every second day that I would have the soreness. On Wednesday this week, I decided I could stand it no more and rang the dental surgery and got an appointment for yesterday afternoon. Within the hour of making the appointment, I suddenly realised that I had a sore lump in the gum where the crowned tooth was...so I was glad that I'd made that appointment. Then later in the evening...the lump had gone!! And I could chew food on that side again.

Urban Dental at Kelvin Grove

So yesterday afternoon, I sat in the chair and told him the story...what a weird and convoluted tale it was! Tony got to work with those probing tools and then after that took a single x-ray... and found a large abscess. Needless to say he was very surprised, as there was little sign when he did the examination. He hadn't found any sore spots when he was probing around the crown and the gum. (remember I did say that the pain comes and goes???)

While I sat outside the dentists waiting for DH to bring the car around, I noticed the interesting pattern on the footpath...I have walked on it so many times before but have never noticed this!!

The 'dramas with this tooth started when I was in my late teens when I got an infection in a temporary filling put in by the family dentist. Problems have tended to flare up with this tooth about every 10-12 years, necessitating root canal work, part crowns, full crowns, with the last work done in 2004 when Tony saved it from extraction. This time however, he  has recommended that I get the tooth removed.  He offered to so that yesterday but as I just couldn't face it, I said 'I was too fragile', so I have a course of antibiotics to take now...big ones too!

Looking down the street from where I was sitting. The Kelvin Grove Urban Village was built on the site of the former  Gona Army Base there. This street, like most in the village did not exist 10 years ago. 

DH and I didn't go straight home from the dentist...

We stopped in Alderley so DH could send off a parcel for me. I took a photo of the Physiotherapy sign; the practice is owned by a former student of mine.

Then DH drove us out to Grovely (Keperra) to Yarn Over, the yarn shop there. We bought a voucher as our donation to K4BN's Christmas raffle.

So Thursday turned out to be a big day for me. And after starting my course of antibiotics, I'm a bit zonked out at the moment and having lots of naps...:-)

Knit and Natter at Grovely...

Yesterday I went along to Yarn Over at Grovely for the monthly Knit and Natter there for K4BN. I had packed up the donations that I had been given to hand in...these lovely beanies...

And I had bagged up and labelled the blanket that I had sewn up...

As soon as I pulled up outside Gabby's shop I remembered that I had forgotten something that I wanted to give another member of the group...so I went back home for that! On the way back to Grovely, a dog ran out in front of my car, just near the bridge before Brookside...luckily I saw him out the corner of my right eye and braked...he got to the opposite footpath unscathed thank goodness!! So I started to wonder what the rest of my Saturday would bring...

The store started to get quite busy with a steady stream of customers...

In the photo below, note the man in the black shirts with the red stripe...

He came in to the store and voiced his concern about a car parked outside the store which had petrol leaking into the gutter...no one in the store owned the car, so Gabby the owner went and checked the other shops in the block and this man went to the houses across the road looking for the owner...

Taking no chances it was decided to ring 000. The fire department decided to send someone out...

Three of the firemen got out of the vehicle to deal with the issue... we all perved  gawked  looked out through  the shop window...the officers checked out the situation...

Yep! It is a petrol leak...we'll need to mop that up so it doesn't go into the drains... (see the box of a substance that looks just like 'kitty litter'...)

Checking right around the car...

And under the car!

The man in charge of the team declares the area safe with 'little significant risk' and he came inside to tell us the details...

The young 'firie' on the right of the photo was getting a lot of attention from the ladies in the shop...I think the term used these days is 'eye candy'....lol

 Then Karen (our K4BN leader) suggested to the senior fireman that it would be lovely if some of the ladies could get a photo with the officers...with my camera...and they agreed!

Then Rell offered to take a photo while I stood with the group...that fireman is sure tall!!!

Needless to say not all the knitters would come out to get in the photo...they preferred to watch through the window!
So after that little bit of excitement, it was back to knitting and chatting! lol

Still on knitting; here are some figures from Karen regarding donations to and from the group...

'So far this year Peter and I have given out just over 7,000 items to various organisations, hospitals; womens shelters, animal shelters etc. Which means at this stage we won't have the 5,000 items that Peter would like to take to Homeless Connect Day. But there are a few more knit and natters before HCD, so hopefully we will have that many to take with us, plus a couple of hundred filled toiletry bags!!!
And it isn't even winter yet, but the demand is getting worse and worse....BUT we can only do what we can. It is 10.417 items that the homeless/less fortunate wouldn't have, if not for this group!!'

Just a couple of little asides...

• The owner of the car was found...a woman. She was given a lift home in the fire-truck! 
• The tall fireman offered to take his shirt off for the photo but we thought it was a bit too cold to expect him to do that! :-/
• A friend of my DD2 recognised the tall fireman as being the brother of a friend of hers...small world.