A BEAUTIFUL SUNRISE AT 8 O’CLOCK

...but now at just after midday, the sky has filled in and it's grey and cold, but at least it's not raining - yet and we did have the bonus of seeing this beautiful sunrise.

I was actually still up at 2.30 a.m. - one of my nights when I wasn't tired - and decided to take down the Christmas decorations, but will leave this candle up for a few more weeks, as I know a friend of ours, who is a carer, likes to see it when she comes home after a late night shift.

However, I needed to be up early because I had to ring the surgery at 8.30 to make an appointment to see a doctor about my eyes, which even after using drops for a month, haven't cleared up. I have also noticed that my ears are sore and itchy too and I have been sneezing a lot.  All signs of an allergy, I guess.  

Having spoken to Kate at Leightons yesterday, she said I should contact my GP again as they couldn't prescribe anything for me.  Incidentally, whilst at Leightons, I took in some gloves for Wendy, Lauren and Seb and they were delighted with them.  Lauren sent me a photograph of her and Seb - see extra - obviously not taken by me - but the sunrise was!  You can't actually see, but the wool is sparkly, which suits both of them.  

I duly rang the surgery spot on 8.30 and was surprised that I was only number 4 in the queue, which was good.  I was told that the doctor who had prescribed the drops wasn't in until Monday, but I could have an appointment then, which suited me because she was lovely and it saves explaining things all over again.  

However, during the course of the morning, my eyes have got worse, they are very itchy and red and I am at the point where I could "scratch them out"!  I suddenly thought that it might be something to do with the wool I have been using to knit the fingerless gloves but never thought of this before, so asked Mr. Google and found this information..

Interestingly, I also found mention of people who were allergic to the ink used to print newspapers, and have often said to Mr. HCB that my eyes are "itchy and red" after reading a newspaper so perhaps I need to do what he does and read them online!

So - when I go to see my GP next Monday I shall be mentioning this to her and perhaps in the meantime, I need to leave the knitting alone and just read books!  This makes me very sad because only yesterday I went into DEBRA, our favourite charity shop, to say I would be happy to knit some gloves for them to sell in the shop, but if this is what is going to happen every time I knit, then it's just not worth it.  

It's a very cold day today, so we are staying indoors - I have plenty of jobs to do, such as updating the calendar and sorting out Christmas and birthday cards.  Hopefully it will do me good to stay away from the knitting, but I hope that reading doesn't have an adverse effect on my eyes - that would be devastating.