May

Things might be a bit quiet on my blog this month.  I have a lot going on.  My eldest daughter is turning 21 so planning and arranging her 21st is consuming me for now.  My mum has arrived as my support team.  There are endless lists and my mind is running non-stop.  Her theme is Caribbean Carnivale - it's such a happy colourful theme and we're having lots of fun sourcing inflatable palm trees, parrots and pineapples, just to name a few.  And costumes - lots of sequins and feathers are floating around the house. There will be lots of photos post event, but I'm not going to give anything away before then!

Poor Tilly's world was turned upside down on Monday with a trip to the vet to be de-sexed.  It was incredibly traumatic. There were 4 of us holding her down (after heavy sedation) to anaesthetise her, which took 2 attempts. Luckily the vet was a tall and strong man - I hadn't considered that when I booked her in, but it is a definite pre-requisite to be Tilly's vet. She is so strong and becomes a bucking bronco when out of her comfort zone.

So I'm afraid there won't be much sharing of crafty projects for now, instead here a few images from my morning walk.  It's an opportunity to look around and up and see glorious little things that remind me how amazing nature is. 

The leaves are the only autumn colour in my garden. They have featured on my blog before...they are so fleeting.  One day I will make an autumn quilt so I can wrap myself in their glorious glow.

 

 

 

This is a bud I passed....and sniffed and snapped a photo.  



And here is a part of a fence I pass on my walks.  I must take my daughter with me so she can sing it to me....I long to know its tune.  How unique is that?  I love people's ingenuity! I would love to know the story behind a musical fence...I ponder what song I would put on my musical fence?  How about you?




Post Op Tilly...totally depressed

What a gorgeous weather-wise weekend we had here in Perth.  Temps under 30 both days.  It was lovely to open the house up and let the sunshine and fresh air pour in, rather than closed up with the air-con on and avoiding the boiling sun at all costs.

 

I had a quiet weekend, mostly spent at home mooching doing loads of washing.  My daughters cleaned there rooms and the floor-drobe contents made its way to the washing basket.  I know, I am such a nice mother, still doing their washing!

 

I had time to get my Liberty Strippy Quilt ready for pinning and hand-quilting.  I'm just planning on straight rows of stitches in various shades of blue thread. 

 

Here it is ready for pinning, which I later achieved. I'm tacking it as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Tilly was yet again my helper. Following me around, sitting patiently while I hung out washing. Jumping on the vacuum cleaner, licking the dishes in the dishwasher - the dirty, tasty ones, nudging for pats, when they weren't forthcoming in the required time frame.  Yesterday she did some sunbathing in the spot of sunshine in the lounge room.

 

 

 

 

The weather felt more Spring-like than Autumn-Like.  I moved some furniture around and put the old smelly blue sofa out on the verge and put the white sofa bed in  its place and draped it in my aquablue quilt.  It looks soooooooooooo much better.  You can lie on this one - finally a sofa we can lie on- and I did just that for an hour reading my book club book which is great.  I finished another book on Saturday night - my first David Baldacci - Zero Day.  It was as if I was watching a CSI episode without the ads.

 

 

 

What else?  Friday night I went to see Pam Ann - a comedienne.  Quite funny in places - good for a giggle.  And Sunday a quick cuppa up the road at my besties.  All in all very nice.



 

 

I hope you had lovely weekends too!

Hand quilted Retro Vintage Square Quilt

Hand quilting all done....I just need to do the binding.... I have to say, I absolutely love the feel and look of the hand quilting, and I think I'm a convert from machine quilted tops.  Having thought myself a "topper" only of quilts - you know...love putting the top together, but my mind too full of other quilt ideas to take the time to hand quilt, so I've outsourced the quilting part, so that I can get on with the next top.  Not sure I'll be treading that path any longer.  I have 2 other finished quilts sitting waiting to be quilted and they will both by hand quilted - my Liberty strip quilt and my Babushka quilt.  Then there's the nearly finished hand pieced hexie quilt, oops and I forgot my Jane Brocket Hammock quilt, which I will hand quilt now as well. 

My stitching is very very rough, but I love it and think it suits the quilt down to the ground. I used a thick quilting thread in a red and stitched every second square.  I'm pretty chuffed with myself in case you can't tell :)

Last weekend I did a little bit of painting in the ensuite

with a little bit of help....

 

 

A dog's life....

 

 

"Oh thanks Soooze, did you put that cushion there just for me?"

 

 

 

 

Tilly, " gotta love a good pillow".

to...

 

''Where's my pillow?"

 

 

What's not to love?

 

hard to believe those eyes don't see a thing....



and another block

I didn't have a lot of time last night...just managed some unpicking and this one block.

and here's where I found Tilly I couple of nights ago as I went to bed.  Sound asleep in the walk-in-robe. She LOVES wool. I think I've mentioned it before...but if I happen to leave a ball lying around, she never ever fails not to find it!  And here again - she has found my stash - I thought safely put away in the robe...she would have buried herself in the bag if she could have.  Remember she is totally blind and has been from birth...

Snoozin'

Tilly the Christmas Elf...

Random-ness

So my inner fairy godmother has helped me out and I've found a way around the disappearing upload box (i have tried disabling pop ups, plug ins...to no avail.  Now I'm uploading via my phone to a picassa web album to the blog...laborious but it works. 

Here are 2 pics I wanted to post of Gypsy.  I love them and I'm going to frame the one above. She was so pretty and I loved her little beauty spot on her nose :)

More photos....

 

My latest crochet project.  Totally ramdom squares for a blanket. But I can't edit this one aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh for the second time.

 

 

 

My eldest girl - George (nearly 20) - got a brand new grown-up bed which we installed yesterday.  Her pink and green quilt looks lovely on it.  It was my first quilt.  I don't think it will be there for long - she's decided the pink and green (so 12 year old girl!) colour scheme is going.  :)



Farewell my beautiful Gypsy-Girl

My darling girl was hit by a car outside our house and killed instantly.  I can hardly find words at the moment.  She was never very far from me in the house.  I was glad I was home from my holiday and we had a few days of schmoosing together.  She had been distraught without me, and was oh so happy to have me home and we spent lots of time cuddling.

Rest in peace my beautiful Gypsy-girl. Thanks for the memories and all the wild times you crazy, epileptic, tail-less cat.  You are forever in my heart. xxx



Always helping me sew




Getting into the Christmas spirit :)




Curled up on a quilt - she loved quilts and I would often find her curled up on one - even a folded one on a table!



Our Darling Matilda

Just dropping by quickly to share a photo of my beautiful Matilda - our darling blind lab. She puts herself in the most unusual situations.  She loves squeezing into corners and other tight spaces.  I'm sure it's reassurance for her.  She likes to be as close as possible to you, ie on your lap.  She has the uncanny knack of putting herself right between one's legs and then sitting down, and waiting expectanly to be patted. It always gets a laugh from visitors. She's quite a local attraction!

As a family we talk to her constantly when she's around as sound is very comforting to her too.  She is a truly amazing girl and we love her to bits.

My daughter spotted her outside the back door and did the call out - "Come and look at Tilly" as we so often do.  She looks so dejected with a "Where is everyone?" look on her face, having managed to sit under the bike. Bless!

 
She has learnt the command "Reverse" which we use when the only way out of where she has got herself is to ''reverse", so we call it out and out she backs, tail wagging.  When we say "good girl'' she knows she can turn and safely be on her way.

Quite a bit of sewing happening on the mezzanine.  My Cowgirl quilt is coming along nicely. Pictures coming soon.  x

9 patch etc

quilting has been my craft of choice lately, taking over from the knitting and crochet.  I pieced my Liberty quilt together so it's another quilt top in the chest.  I picked up my blue and brown from the long arm quilter.  I'm really happy with it.  I like it more now.  It has the dubious title of my least favourite quilt to date.  but I'm wondering if by the tme I bind it I won't like it even more.  It certainly got a BIG help along by a visitor to the house this week.  An interior decorater came round and was in raptures over it.  I just thought 'how funny!'

it was so fun to have a decorator in the house.  It was something I've never thought I would do, but fate thought differently and bestowed upon me a voucher at a quiz night I went to recently.  "It" must have known that that is exactly what i needed to help me over my serious fed-up-ness with the house. Norinda is just the person to help me bring all the bits of the house together.  She's a wonderful resource.  She liked my ideas and I liked hers.  Also helped that she was very complimentary about my ability to work with colour.  It was lovely to get a pat on the back.  Very encouraging.  Often as mums we are the ones encouraging and nurturing and complimenting, but with teenagers - or just as we age and are the grown ups - you don't often hear that you're doing a good job.  And I guess you don't even really think about it, but when someone does say lots of positive things, it's very nice, isn't it.  Too funny.

Here's Gypsy enjoying the brown and blue quilt... which I've draped over a sofa for the time being.

Gypsy has a habit of seeking out quilts....

I've gone completely off track.  What's new?  I started with pictures of my latest quilt.  My first 9 patch.  I'm having my very own quilt-a-long, all by myself.  A patch or 2 a day.  I've wanted to do one for ages and found a couple on line...crazy mom quilts  did one a few years ago.  That boat's sailed so I'll just merrily bob along by myself!

My Little Snuggle Bunny!

Gypsy sets the quilt off rather nicely don't you think?

Tilly in Snooze Town

Saturday afternoon snooze time for Tilly.  She was dead to the world. Exhausted by a big morning walk.

Fantastic animal interaction

http://www.slothster.com/2352-Cat-On-Boat-Plays-With-Dolphins.html

This is wonderful.  I dream of one day swimming with dolphins - somewhere, sometime.

Pets in residence....

Gypsy and Tilly in their fave spots...hanging out after a busy day in petworld.


And

Gypsy has been moonlighting as a chimney sweep.  She was filthy!

Happy New Year!

OMG!! December passed in such a rush.  Our Christmas Day was lovely, and the week surrounding it wasn't dull.  Trips to the hospital emergency room on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day with my elder daughter.  On the mend now but suffering a nasty infection - she spent the night being pumped full of IV antibiotics.  Then another day spent fixing tyres after my younger daughter - a learner driver - popped a tyre on a kerb!  Consequently she had her first lesson in changing a tyre.  She and I managed it together and B is very proud of herself.... "Girls Rock!!" 

Now onto the second week of my Christmas break I'm hoping for a more relaxing finish to my holiday, although today started with poor Gypsy having one of her seizures on the floor beside my bed.  I don't seem to by managing her medication well enough, but I've dosed her up now and hopefully she will have a restful day snoozing in her favourite spot on my bed.  I'm worried she needs higher does of pills.  The vet has said it will cause liver problems in the long term and her life will probably be shortened by being medicated. :((

The dog is on heat so is banished.  That is a job for the next couple of months...off to the vet for her op!  I braved the dog beach yesterday with her.  I say braved because I have a love hate relationship with the dog beaches.  It's so lovely watching all the dogs have such a frolicking good time, and the beach is so so beautiful, but it goes hand in hand with the dogs that run straight over you - the ones the owners have no control over because the hounds are just so so excited.  I came home crunching sand between my teeth!!  Tilly did a number 2 in the back of the ute on the way down!!! and then jumped and walked it all over the place.  Then there's the ablutions of the dogs at the beach...right beside me yesterday.  Picked up, but there's a lot that aren't picked up and lie hidden in the sand. 

Tilly is so incredibly excited in the car, the whole car rocks around as she leaps in circles all the way along the ride.  Holding her on the lead is exhausting and you come back with rope burn on your hands.  Any tips on training a blind dog, gladly welcomed.  Trust me food doesn't work!!  She goes ballistic trying to find the treat!

Anyway here's a couple of pictures of Gypsy sound asleep on the kitchen bench....

Mirrors how one often feels after the over indulgence in food over the festive period, don't you think? 

That's exactly how I would like to spend a few days before the return to the out of control treadmill of my life......