The Sun Doesn’t Always Shine

by
James McIntosh
&
Dr Thomas

The sun doesn’t always shine. Sometimes the plane door opens at Gatwick and you wonder whether you’ve accidentally landed inside a fridge.

After our wonderful weekend in Gran Canaria (seems ages ago), the cold came as quite a surprise. We’d boarded in shorts, perfectly warm in the airport. Thankfully, the doctor and I had changed before landing. A small decision for which our knees were extremely grateful.

We were home by about seven, the washing went on, and then I discovered just how much was waiting for me in the world of McIntosh.

Parcels. And then some more parcels.

A homecoming full of kindness

I packed through Saturday evening, through Sunday and into Monday. The flat became an industrial warehouse, hundreds of parcels headed out, and everything that had been waiting was dispatched.

Thank you for giving me such a busy homecoming. And thank you, especially, for your kindness.

Some of you hadn’t seen the website pop-up explaining that I was away. When I emailed from beside the swimming pool to explain, your replies were so gracious and understanding. I really did appreciate them. There is one very busy person behind your parcels, and your patience meant a great deal.

Introducing Scan Connery

Now, I was going to tell you that nothing exciting happened this week.

But that would overlook a major development.

I bought a brand-new barcode scanner.

Kapow. Pew Pew ...

I know. Try to contain yourselves.

He’s called Scan Connery. Excellent with deliveries. Refuses to help with the washing. A distinguished gentleman helping you get parcels out For Your Yarns Only.

He helps me book deliveries into the system more quickly, and I am delighted with him. Apparently, this is what excitement looks like in my life now. Sunshine one week, scanning barcodes the next.

Meanwhile, Dr Thomas has been working from home, attending a medical conference online from another room. Through the wonders of Bluetooth, he managed to put the lectures through the stereo. Dr Dolby 5.0.

So, while packing your yarn, I’ve also had an unexpected education in influenza, exercise and ageing well. Somewhere between the packing tape and the parcel labels, I appear to have acquired a very unofficial medical education.

A baby blanket against the clock

There has even been a wee bit of knitting.

Quite a few of you have asked for the baby blanket pattern I’m knitting for our next-door neighbour. Her baby is due in about ten to fifteen days, and I am halfway up the blanket.

Halfway.

The baby, I suspect, has no intention of adjusting its arrival to accommodate my knitting schedule.

It will be a very loved baby, with a blanket being knitted at increasing speed. I’m writing the pattern myself, and once it’s finished, it will be available as a free download on the website. First, however, I really must get those needles moving.

Finding our sunshine

We also survived the annual house meeting. Four flats, gathered to discuss gutters, drains, the garden and whether the back wall needs pointing.

As my mother would have said, these things build character.

I feel we must have quite enough character by now.

Friday evening, though, is always date night for James and Dr Thomas. It has been since we met sixteen years ago. We leave the flat, find somewhere for an inexpensive meal, and spend a little time together. It’s a small ritual that means an awful lot.

And perhaps that’s the lovely thing about this otherwise ordinary week.

McIntosh is a full-on job, especially with all the work happening behind the website just now. I love it, but the days are long. Catching up, sending your parcels, tidying the website and finding a little time to knit has brought its own kind of deep inner happiness.

The sun doesn’t always shine, but there’s a lot to be said for being content.

A meal together. A few rows of knitting. A kind message from a customer.

And, obviously, a magnificent new barcode scanner.