Wednesday 25 July 2012

Happy Days!!!!

Hello Everyone!


How are you all doing?


Firstly, I want to extend a warm welcome to my New Followers!  Hello and thanks for following me, I hope you enjoy your stay.


The weather this past week has been absolutely gorgeous up here in the Northern hemisphere! It has been as hot as 34 degrees!  We are absolutely loving it!!


We've managed to tidy the garden......


I've been able to take pictures of blossoming flowers and plants as well as new growth.......


but the poor sheep have been seeking shelter under the little bit of shade they could find, which lucky for us, is by our fence!


The new additions are growing up quick, and now moving around quite a bit, making it rather difficult to get a decent picture!



Above are Fluffy's three all snuggled up in the corner.....

 
and here are Shadow's four.... you can make them all out if you look closely...... one head on the left hand side of the picture, two at the top and the fourth is sleeping, you can see her body under the two at the top..



Something else very interesting in this picture...... Fluffy is feeding Shadow's babies!!! I knew this sometimes happened, but I have never seen it, so I thought I would take a photo to share it!

Can you believe they are 3 weeks old already!!!  I have checked to see what sex they are, and we have 5 girls and 2 boys!!  (Shadow has 2 of each and Fluffy has all girls).  Still..... they are all so cute and adorable....... Bean and Peanut are already begging to keep one each!  

Mmmmmmmmm..... we'll see!

Well, I'm going to be popping in when I can over the next 6 weeks, as Bean and Peanut are on school holidays, so I will blog when I get a chance, but I can tell you this....... we have a special holiday planned...... 

All will be revealed soon!!!!!

Until next time....

xxx-xxx-xxx


Thursday 19 July 2012

New Heading

Hello,

I just wanted to surprise you all with a new header!  I was getting a bit tired of the old one, so I decided to refresh it!

I do like it, but it just seems to be a bit strange seeing it there, staring back at me, when I've had the old header there for almost 2 years!!!

What do you all think?  


I might even change the bottom of my blog, just to spice things up a bit more! :-)

xxxxxx


Edited to add:   I just couldn't resist!  I have also changed my footer! xxx

The Final Quilt!

Well hello again,


I have a bit of a dilemma.......


As some of you know, from previous posts, I lost my wonderful Mum a couple of years ago.  She was an extremely creative person, who would try her hand at everything, just to say she had done it!


Well, the other week, my middle brother contacted me, to let me know that he had still not had a quilt that my Mum had started making for him, completed. 


What's so special about this quilt you may ask....... Well, it is the final quilt my Mum ever got to make and work on - she completed the front, organised the back, and all that is required is wadding (or batting as some of you may know it) and completing.  Sadly she became too ill and lost her battle with cancer before she could finish it.


Here is a picture of the quilt in question .......



Sorry for the poor picture quality, but this is a picture that my brother took on his phone and sent to me.

When I quizzed my brother more on why he hadn't got the quilt finished, he replied that he didn't trust anyone to finish it, without either ruining it, or taking credit for creating it!  We had a chat about what he could do, and then it happened........

My brother begged me to complete the quilt!  Both him and my eldest brother had talked about it and agreed that I was the only person they trusted and the best person for the job, as whilst all the women in the family can sew, I was the only one with quilting experience!!!!! (Errrrrmmm........)

What they do forget is, the last quilt I ever made with Mum was when I was 18 ..... over 20 years ago!!!!!

Still, I am very honored and flattered that they think I am the best person for the job, and willingly accepted the challenge!!!!  That's where the dilemma came in..... what happens if I can't remember how its done? or make a hash of it and ruin it?

Well..... I am waiting for my brother to find time to get this quilt to me!  So, in the meantime, I have time to refresh myself and read up on things I'm rusty about!!!  I can't wait to get my hands on it, so I can get started and complete this quilt..... and I have even thought of a name for it, I was thinking....... Irene's Daisies, after my Mum and because there are daisies on it :-)

What do you think? 

Oh, yes, If anyone wants to let me know how they think it should be completed, let me know as I am open to suggestions.
:-D

xxx xxx xxx

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Flowers

Welcome Back!

Well, with everything that went on last week, I did not get much time to be very creative, but I did manage to make these little flowers, which were super easy and quick to make!






I had a lot of fun making them, I just have to put them to good use....... which, I do have a plan for!

I will have to challenge myself to try a bit of pattern writing, so that I can share some of these bits with you all.......... so........ watch this space!

Until next time..... happy creating!

xxxxx

Monday 16 July 2012

Kitty Galore!!!

Hello Everyone!


I'm sorry for not blogging sooner, but things have been a little bit hectic lately...... what, with the arrival of Seven (7) new babies!!!


Well, as promised, I said I would update you all on what happened....




(I managed to get this picture of the two of them at the beginning - looks like they are hugging - So sweet!)

Shadow (the cat with the collar on) went into labour on Wednesday, and I knew she was in labour as she didn't want to move away from me and she was purring a lot - Also Fluffy (cat without the collar and looking half asleep) would not leave her side! So......... I kept an eye on her......

The two of them took themselves off to their shed and I kept checking on them every hour to make sure they were ok, as I know cats are quite private creatures.  Anyway I checked at 7.30pm, nothing.......8.30pm, nothing...... I checked at 9.30pm........ eeek two (2) babies! (Look in the circled area in the picture below, you can just see them.)


So, I continued to check up until 11.30pm, but nothing else happened.  I went to bed and was up at 5.30am and went down, expecting to see more babies...... but..... nothing!!
Shadow and Fluffy were lying in a similar picture to the one above, with both babies in between them, and they were not moving for anyone!!!!

Now, I knew she would have more, as she was far too big for just two kittens..... so after showing Bean and Peanut who were totally besides themselves with excitement, we let them be.

I went in at 7.30am to find Shadow and Fluffy had moved the babies into a card board box that I had set up as a kittening box, and Shadow was pleased to see me and even had something to eat and drink, so I managed to get a sneaky picture of the two kittens....



I kept checking every hour, until 10.30am, when I went in, as Shadow was panting and crying and trying to push, but nothing was happening, I monitored her for a bit, and decided to call the Vet, who suggested that I bring her in quick!!!  So I bundled both cats and both kittens into the carrier and shot off to the vet (I had to take both cats as Fluffy would not let me go without her and kept climbing into the box!)

I had to leave Shadow at the vets, as she required an emergency C-Section!  It was a painstaking wait, as I was warned that we may lose her and the kittens.... :-(

At 3pm, I finally received a call to tell me the surgery had gone well, there had been Two kittens inside, one was now thriving and the one that had been stuck was very weak, I was allowed to collect them all, but the weak one could possibly die :-(    It was a happy sad moment, as I was happy Shadow was okay, but sad that we would possibly lose one of the kittens.


So I took this picture of Shadow post op, with all her kittens - the weak one is lying near her back leg and tail, one is tucked under her front leg and the other two can be seen clearly.

I also decided that after all she had been through, I was going to do my best to help all her kittens survive, so I slept by her and kept latching the weak kitten on, to make sure it had the best chance of survival.

I am very pleased to say it worked!!!!


Here are all four babies at feed time at lunchtime on Friday!!!

Fluffy went into labour on Thursday evening, and did very well all by herself...... (with me nervously checking her every so often!) She had 3 kittens on Friday, with the last being delivered at 4.30pm.


She deserved a long rest after that (above), and I managed to get a picture of her three babies (below), and change all the blankets, whilst she had a well deserved snack and drink!


I also managed to get a picture of Shadow's four babies all snuggled up together (below) when she went for a drink and snack on Friday evening.


I must add I was totally exhausted!!!! From all the worry and the sleepless night on Thursday, ensuring the survival of the weakest!  Would I do it again????  You bet! 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx





Friday 6 July 2012

Kitten Update!

Well........ thought I'd give you a VERY brief update........

One set of kittens arrived ...... on 2 different days!!! Shadow is now the proud Mum of 4 gorgeous babies!  The other set (Fluffy's) are busy making their entrance as we speak!!!

I will explain more in a post with pictures.......... But let me just say this.......... NEVER Again!!!  It has just been far too traumatic!!!

Have to dash, Fluffy needs me ......

xxx xxx xxx

Wednesday 4 July 2012

New Machine

Welcome Back!

Well, there is still no news on the kitten front..... they are obviously very comfortable where they are...... who can blame them with this awful weather we have been having!

Well, I have got a new knitting machine (yes...... number 3!)  here is a picture of it set up in my studio....


My studio is my space where no children, pets or husbands are permitted (except to repair collapsed ceilings  of course!)

In case you are wondering why I have 3 machines....... well, one is an electronic patterning one, the other has  a ribber on and this one is a single bed one.... at the moment! But the main reason, is because I am busy setting up shop, so as soon as that is going, I will let you know.

Anyway, I did a piece of sampling.....


and it was fun!!!!  It set my head spinning with ideas, so I had to write them down...... I just have to work on them and get sorted...... maybe in the near future I will give you all a sneak peek of my bits and bobs...

Well, have to go play with my machine!

Until next time....... happy creating!

xxx--xxx--xxx

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Olympic Torch.

Hello.........


We were fortunate enough to see the Olympic Torch pass through our little town on it's journey to London, towards the end of last week........





 The two pictures above, were the street dancers, who were extremely full of energy!





We then had the vehicle procession.....


I had to get this picture of the Olympic Mascot Wenlock



This is Bill Weston our local Olympic Torch bearer and founder of the Billerettes


and I just had to take this picture as I have never seen this many people here before - even on carnival day!!!

There were various floats and processions which followed the main procession, I will have to go through them and see if there are any worth putting up for you to see.

We did manage to get pictures of Bean and Peanut holding the torch, and the day was very well organised, with loads of fun, so I thought I would share it with my readers who may unfortunately not get the opportunity to experience one of these days..... it really makes you feel part of the Olympics and I am really looking forward to some of the games!

xxxxxxxxxx

Monday 2 July 2012

Waiting Patiently.........

Good Morning everyone!  

How has your week been????

Well, we have some very exciting news in our household......... we are expecting additions to the family!!!!!! 

No......... it's not me...... it's in the form of kittens!!

That alone should be exciting, but both our cats are expecting!!!

I managed to capture this photo of them together ...............................



It's not a brilliant picture, but all the same..... it's rare to get a semi decent picture with them lying down near each other, they usually tend to come and sniff the camera!  

Fluffy (lying on the cream rug) appears to be carrying a smaller package than Shadow (lying on the carpet in the background).  

As you can see from Shadow her teats are showing, which means she is getting close - Fluffy is the same, but she can still comfortably hide her belly!  

I have read up on everything I can, as the last time I had a cat who had kittens, I was 10...... so that was a long time ago!

Bean and Peanut are beside themselves with anticipation!!!!

As soon as I have any news, I will report back, which will hopefully be fairly soon!

xxxx