My new hobby…

Some of my knitting knits

A lot of my friends are already aware/embarrassed about my new hobby. Since living in Bristol I have dabbled in a few things… hooping, swimming, various dance classes, aerobics… unfortunately nothing really “clicked” for me or became a regular part of my routine. I had hoped I would find something active to occupy me when I am not at work – to get fit and in shape. It would appear the activity I have become most passionate about involves me sitting down.

For some reason unknown to me, I decided on August 31st of this year that I wanted to learn how to knit. I can’t remember why this was, but I went and bought some purple yarn and a pair of needles to embark on this task. 4 hours in front of YouTube and I could not fathom a single stitch, until a tutorial by a seven year old girl finally made sense to me. I knitted a wonky, holey purple block of stitches and from then on I was hooked. I have since managed to knit baby booties, a Christmas stocking, several attractive scarves, and knitted flowers and bows.

I have been exposed to a new world of craft and colour. There is so much to learn – so many variations and abbreviations that I think I am going to need some help! I have had a couple of lessons from a really talented and lovely Bristol based knitter, The Homemade Mama, who corrected my self-taught technique and gave me some good tips to set me on my way. The things I am able to do at the moment are very basic so I have booked a knitting course from January to start learning more. My mum is a brilliant knitter and always knits something lovely when a baby is on the way, and I would love to be able to do the same. (I can’t do sleeves….or collars…or buttonholes… YET)

I am currently working on some Christmas gifts for my friends and family (you lucky people!) and I would like to start a campaign of knitting squares to eventually create a patchwork blanket. I have found knitting to be almost therapeutic, it is really relaxing and there is a great sense of achievement when you have actually managed to create something. There is a big community in Bristol of knitters and crafters which I would like to immerse myself in once I am a bit better at it!

Typical of me, I have now decided I want to own a wool shop and knit all day – drinking tea, chatting with other knitters and whipping up jumpers. Watch this space. (!)

Here are some of my new favourite websites:

http://www.deramores.com/

http://www.jessicabiscoe.co.uk/

http://www.letsknit.co.uk/

http://www.ukhandknitting.com/

https://www.ravelry.com/

Some cute knitted bows by Yiskah Knits

The eXcruciatingly bad Factor

I feel your pain, Rylan.

Generally I am a positive person, who enjoys light-hearted entertainment with a large side order of cheese. I think going to the DJ and requesting Steps, S-Club7 and 5ive at a club is perfectly acceptable. To me,  Butlins is a totally legitimate holiday destination and I thoroughly enjoyed Rock of Ages and sing-along-a Mama Mia. Karaoke is one of my favourite past times. For my birthday I had a Eurovision Song Contest party. As you can see, I am easily pleased and I don’t take “entertainment” too seriously.

8 years ago, The X Factor crashed onto my television and I thought it was the best thing ever. It gave hope to people who (like me at the time) dreamed of being a pop starlet. I loved it when the new series started and always watched – I looked forward to the winter evenings drawing near, and curling up at home to indulge in this pop ritual. I loved the conversations at work on a Monday morning – “did you watch X-Factor?” (of course I had!) and the chat that followed. So it pains me to say this BUT…

I watched X-Factor last night and thought it was awful. Drivel. Out-dated trash. I don’t know if I am getting miserable in my old age or if it is genuinely rubbish, but I am no longer engaged by this display of drama. I hate how the editing forces you to feel the emotion they want you to – “This bit is SAD so listen to the SAD music and watch them all CRY and feel SAD” or “This bit is HAPPY so listen to the POSITIVE and UP-LIFTING music and see all these close ups of people SMILING” – quite frankly I found it exhausting.

Despite the loveliness of Dermot O’Leary’s face, I can not watch it any more. I guess I am going to have to find something better to do with my Saturday nights from now on…

Pale and Interesting…?

With 32 days to go it has suddenly dawned on me that I am the pastiest person in Bristol.

White flesh against a white dress is not a good look – at this rate I am going to look like a chunky version of the Corpse Bride on our wedding day.

So, what are my options? The thought of using fake tan really  concerns me. I have visions of ruining my dress with it or looking like something from The Only Way is Essex (not really what I had in mind). There are so many products available on the high-street that I wouldn’t know where to start, and I am pretty sure I would just make a streaky mess of it. I equally don’t fancy donning some paper pants and being sprayed orange by a stranger. No thanks!

This evening I decided to check out the controversial world of sunbeds… (pause for sharp in-take of breath!) Although dubious, I was intrigued to find out what all the fuss is about. I visited my local gloden, popped on a pair of goggles and enjoyed 6 minutes of artificial sunshine. I am really impressed by the way everything was explained to me, my skin-type was looked at and I was given lots of information on using sunbeds safely. Prior research on the NHS website made me feel like there was no such thing as using sunbeds safely, whilst unsurprisingly The Sunbed Association makes it seem less scary.

I am still undecided what to do about this ghostly skin of mine (I am almost transparent) – here’s hoping the REAL sunshine makes an appearance soon.

Sarah x

6 Weeks to go…

6 weeks today I will become Mrs Morgan.

After months of neglecting my blog, I have decided now is probably a good time to start writing down some musings, as it is a very exciting time for us. All the wedding magazines seem to have very succinct, easy check-lists for us brides-to-be to follow, that go something like this:

Venue – tick,  Dress – tick,  Flowers – tick, Cake – tick.. and so on and so fourth… if only it was that simple!

Having said this, I think we have done most of the ‘big stuff’ and will now be focusing on the detail. We have a series of Super Spreadsheets to keep us on track with what we have left to do. We are still waiting for some RSVPs, and need to have a think about music and logistics for the day. We also need to make the seating plan, and as a particularly non-crafty person, I am relieved to have found some great planner kits here.

We have really enjoyed the planning so far, and have had some cute ideas that we hope our family and friends will enjoy on the day. I don’t want to give too much away, but I might have purchased a second wedding dress this week as well…

I intend to fully enjoy the next 6 weeks, and I am going to try to keep active and avoid stress. I have started a new ballet class and have lots of fun things to look forward to – my friend’s hen-do, my second hen-do and a spa day at the wedding venue, and of course making the aforementioned seating plan…

Very excited!

Sarah x

Sticks and Stones….

I have decided to start writing a blog. I usually don’t really have anything interesting to talk about, but at the moment I do, so in the words of Keenan and Kel – “Here goes!”

This weekend saw Vivacity , the dance team I coach, appear on popular Sky TV sport show, Soccer AM. I had contacted the show a few weeks before after thinking it would be really good to get involved in more events and try to get some coverage for the team. I didn’t really think anything would come of it, so when they called me I was so excited and could not wait to tell the girls.  They too were really excited by the news, and we set about organising how we would get to London by 8am on a Saturday morning. We also had to get together two 1 minute routines, and we organised a rather hasty rehearsal session.

The girls in the green room!

Saturday morning rolled around, and after getting up at 4:30am we arrived at Sky Studios. Everyone was really friendly to us and we were looked after. The girls were starting to feel nervous but the buzz of excitement was always there. The show started and as I sat watching them on a monitor in the green room, I felt FULL of pride. Each and every one of them looked great – comfortable and smiling, and when it came to the performance I thought it went so well! (Especially considering they had only learnt the choreography the night before..!) My friends and family were sending me such positive messages and congratulating me and the girls on this achievement, and we all felt on top of the world!

Then I got home and signed into Twitter….

Past the few lovely  messages some BCFC fans had sent to me, there was a barrage of insults, put-downs, and generally negative comments aimed at the team. One tweet described us as “a disgrace to the West Country….!” –

Really?! All we did was a little dance on TV!

A lot of people  wrote about how The Crystals ( Crystal Palace’s dancers) were so much better than us, and even some of the girls joined in themselves. I found this to be such a shame – especially as I messaged their captain before we went on the show and said how we would be happy if we were even half as good as them! We really admire them and are not trying to be like them. We don’t have access to the same resources as they do, we don’t claim to be professionals – we just go out there to have fun and support our team.

I am not completely naive – I knew that there were going to be nasty things said about us. We are not everyone’s cup of tea as I am often reminded by some BCFC fans on the forum. I totally accept this. Some people like things to stay the way they always have, they don’t rate us or see a place for us in football. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I would never try to talk these people round. Once I had trawled through the insults, I felt completely deflated and upset for my team – a group of gorgeous girls who work really hard and are all lovely people. I felt the criticism was unjust, unnecessary and just plain unfair. I had to remind myself of the reason why we do what we do.

At Bristol City Football Club we sit under the Community Trust, a charity which promotes sport and learning opportunities to the wider community. This year our focus will be to work closely with them and compliment their existing football programmes with dance ones, to help the trust work towards their four goals – Sports Participation, Social Inclusion, Health and Education. We are so proud to be part of this, and we hope to run more workshops and visit schools to share our love of dance with the local community, to promote a fun and active lifestyle. This is what we care about and what we represent.

The reason we love dancing at BCFC!

Appearing on Soccer AM was a great experience for the team, and I am really proud of how far we have come – nobody can take that from us. I have been shown exactly what all the girls are capable of and I honestly could not be prouder. What I will take from the experience is how quick to criticise we all are – next time I see Fearne Cotton on TV wearing something interesting, I will stop myself from writing a negative post – I am going to play nice even if other people aren’t!

Well done all of you - I honestly am really proud. Thanks for making it all so much fun, and for dealing with everything so well. Xx

The girls on Soccer AM!