Well, it’s been an interesting month… lots of new followers, three blogging awards,a guest post written for the Transition Network, more visits to my blog than ever before, discovering some really interesting blogs to read and making new friends. Thank you, especially to everybody who made comments – I have been informed, inspired and encouraged by you all. The eagle-eyed amongst you might have noticed that the blog address has changed slightly in the past week, it’s now simply http://thesnailofhappiness.com … I decided to pay for hosting so that I could prevent any adverts appearing without my knowledge (if you’ve seen any in the past, they have been nothing to do with me!) and at the same time I was able to register this name for the site.

I thought that this final day might be a good time to report back on some of the subjects I’ve written about, including some of those that generated lots of comments.

The month started off with a poem… only the second one I have included on the blog ( the first was a gripe about WordPress not working properly!) which seemed to get things off to a good start as this is the post that’s received most hits so far (although you have to remember it’s had the longest time to do so).

Some lovely new feather on the top… not very speckledy though

Esme the chicken has featured a couple of times as I reported on the progress of her moult. I’m pleased to say that she now has a tail again (she looked very odd without one) and a lovely strip of new, dark feathers along her back. Unfortunately, she’s now shedding like mad from underneath. I’m guessing that, at this rate she will have a complete set of new plumage around March 2014. There is certainly no sign of her starting to lay again and Perdy seems to have come out in sympathy. All I can say is thank goodness for Aliss – still laying most days despite the low light levels.

No need to think about shampoo for a while now

One week into the month, I wrote about the ingredients in shampoo… this generated lots of interest here, with my Facebook friends and when I put a copy of it up on the Blogher website (that had received 115 hits last time I checked). I spent a while mulling over all the comments and, in the end, decided to avoid products that contain SLS (mainly because they seem to adversely affect my sensitive skin) and did some bulk buying as you can see from the picture!

I featured the Lampeter Peoples’ Market in one post and there’s now a link on the venue’s website (Victoria Hall) to my blog… with an occasional visitor arriving that way.

I reported on the progress of my apple scrap vinegar and I’m pleased to say that it really does smell like vinegar now and still isn’t going mouldy. I should be able to bottle it up in about six weeks. After that, I hope to report on the taste and what it’s like to use in cooking.

Hand knitted socks and the wool they were exchanged for

The bag that I made so that I could photograph the process is now full of the wool that I exchanged for a pair of hand knitted socks. I mentioned that this felting wool is destined to be made into a large bag; a comment on Facebook may yield a leather strap for this bag in exchange for another pair of hand-knitted socks… how great would that be? Especially since I have managed a net gain in sock wool since the beginning of the month, despite having knitted a pair and a half! I am considering, now that I have the photographs, actually writing up the instructions for making the bag as a proper pattern, but I haven’t found the time yet.

I managed a few philosophical posts during the month, with Captain Samuel Vimes ‘Boots’ theory of socioeconomic unfairness proving a particularly popular subject that generated lots of discussion; so much so that I couldn’t resist quoting more of his thoughts in yesterday’s post about left-overs. Terry Pratchett is likely to provide me with much inspiration in months to come…and I’m just about to start on his new book Raising Steam so who knows what gems that might yield.

As well as shampoo, I’ve bought a few things during the month. First,  my beautiful shawl pin from Artis Ignis; if you are looking for beautifully carved items, do take a look at their etsy shop – they undertake commissions (that’s what my shawl pin was) and are lovely people. And second, my butter bell… a mass produced item but, hopefully one that will improve my diet. I didn’t mention in any posts about buying yarn, but the knitters amongst you will know that it’s very hard to resist, so I did acquire some lovely British wool from Texere (it was on sale – honest) that is likely to be making an appearance in WIPs and FOs in months to come. Oh, and there were my patterns and fabric.. since I won’t be spending quite so much time writing from now on, perhaps I’ll get round to making my nighties.

Fingerless mittens in action

My Lazy Sunday turned out to be quite productive… and I surprised myself by completing the second of Mr Snail-of-happiness’ fingerless mittens in record time. I really ought to write this pattern up as it is really easy. I used 6-ply sock wool, which should make for a very hardy pair of mittens… they are likely to outlast mine in pure wool, plus they are very nice colours because of the self-patterning yarn. I think these could be good trade goods too.

And so, I progressed through the final week, managing a post every day. Those of you who were with me from the beginning of the month may remember that I started blogging every day to keep Mr S-o-h company whilst he was participating in NaNoWriMo. His target was 50,000 words in 30 days whilst was mine was a blog post every day for 30 days. I’m really pleased to report that he wrote every single day until he reached his target on Thursday 28 November. The result is Kirkenes Blue…. I think it’s a crime novel, but I haven’t been allowed to read it yet. He will now spend some time working on it, then I will edit it and proofread it and in a few months you should be able to buy it as an e-book. Watch this space and I will let you know.

So that’s it for November… I won’t be blogging every day from now on, but do keep reading and commenting…